Man-Faced Bug?
Hello bugman,
Found a couple of shield bugs near my place,but was the only one I was able to catch. I’ve seen them before and known them as man-faced beetles, so it’s time for a proper identification. Wondering whether they have a specific food plant or not. I think they’re relatively rare here and about 2.5 to 3 cm long. Singapore Thanks
Jon

Hi Jon,
We got a photo of a mating pair of these Stink Bugs, also from Singapore, earlier in the month. At that time, Eric Eaton provided the following two possible families: “I’d guess either Pentatomidae or Acanthosomatidae.” Soon after posting, a reader sent this information: ” The man faced-bug is a pentatomidae probably Canthacantus nigripens !”

Green Beetle
Whats this BUG? Found in San Mateo, CA. Thanks!
Matt

Hi Matt,
This is not a beetle. It is a Green Stink Bug.

What’s this bug?
Merry Xmas!
Just wondered if you could identify this beetle seen a month ago in the Royal National Park just south of Sydney. Is it a Jewel Beetle? Many thanks for any help you can offer. Best regards
Jon Cornish

Hi Jon,
This in not a Beetle. It is a Hemipteran in the family Pentatomidae, the Stink Bugs. It is an immature specimen which makes species identification more difficult. Many Stink Bugs have bright metallic coloration and we found a page that identifies a similar looking specimen as being in the family Scutelleridae which are called Jewel Bugs in Australia.

Bug ID
Could you identify this bug for me? Central Florida, December, it is about an inch to inch-and-half long anf flat. Thanks
Ken Pichon

Hi Ken,
This is an immature Stink Bug in the family Pentatomidae. We are curious as to the large size, so we tried to identify the species on BugGuide. We found several photos of the adult Spined Green Stink Bug, Loxa flavicollis, which is found in Florida. There is also mention of another member in the same genus, Loxa viridis, but no image. As BugGuide does not show any immature specimens, we are not sure if the spines are only present on the adults. We will try to do additional research, including contacting Eric Eaton. If this is a member of the genus Loxa, we are requesting your permission to post the image to BugGuide as well. Here is Eric’s input: “It is a stinkbug nymph, have no idea what genus or species. Florida has so many more species than the rest of the U.S., including more introduced, exotic species, that I can’t help much with many of the Florida insect IDs. Please try Julieta Brambila, though, as the Heteroptera (Hemiptera) are her specialty, and she is IN Florida. Eric”

Permission granted. Thank you for your help. I look forward to hearing of any new information.
Ken

Dear Daniel,
Happy Holidays! I have forwarded the image to the pentatomid expert Joe Eger. Let’s wait for his answer. I only have one reference specimen of an immature of Loxa, and it definitely does not reach one inch, but looks similiar to the photo, though not in color since the photograph is of a live insect. Nice photo. We’ll see what Joe says. Thanks,
Julieta
Here is Joe’s answer. “Feliz Navidad a day late. I agree that this thing looks like Loxa. It looks like a pretty mature nymph so the size is not too far off. I can be pretty certain that this is Loxa sp. – May be L. flavicollis or L. viridis – I can’t separate nymphs.”

Bug Query with Pictures
Hi!
I was browsing through your site, with great enjoyment, after we found some 30 to 50 of a particular bug on one of our flower plants. Unfortunately, the site is too large for me to do an exhaustive search (although I did look through all 10 beetle pages and a few others). The closest match seemed to be a ladybird pupa, but the picture wasn’t clear enough for me to be certain, and the markings were different (which would be no surprise, given the variation among ladybird beetles). They do seem rather larger than the ladybird beetles we’re used to seeing. We’re in the middle of a city, western Los Angeles, California (90210). In any case, we’d like to find out what these are. They’re black with orange markings, 8-10 cm long, half that in width, fairly flat, with three rows of orange spots on the underside (middle row shorter). One of the pictures shows them at the base of a rose, which was a typical place to find a group of 3 to 8. The other two show two on a poppy stalk, which was more exposed than most of them. It was still cool in the morning, and most were quite inactive; one of them on a rose stem continually wandered around to the far side of the stem while I tried to photograph. No observation of them flying or of wings, although I did see one twitch the triangular patch on its back. All pictures were taken with a flash, and so the edges and highlights are more pronounced than they appeared to the eye. Thanks,
Leif
P.S. Please feel free to make use of the pictures I took in any way you wish.

Hi Leif,
These are not beetles, but true bugs or Hemipterans. More specifically, they are Harlequin Stink Bugs. We generally see them from other parts of the country more pronounced orange markings, but an image on BugGuide from Los Angeles, is a very close match to your image.

smiley face bug
Can you tell me what it is? I call it the smiley bug, but I’d like to know the real name. It’s about the size of a lady bug, maybe a little bigger. Found in Dallas, Georgia.
Lee Hooker

Hi Lee,
We will contact Eric Eaton to see if he knows what species this unique Stink Bug is. Here is Eric’s response: “The unknown stink bug is the Anchor Stink Bug, Stiretrus anchorago,” which comes in several color schemes, including deep blue and red. This is a “good” species, in that it is predatory, often feeding on webworms in fact. Hope this helps. Eric”