Subject: Some kind of Stink Bug(I think)
Location: Mims, Florida
March 31, 2015 9:08 pm
I took these pictures yesterday of what I originally thought was a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, but after viewing pictures of them online I was unable to find any comparable color patterns.
Signature: Zach
Black Stink Bug
Dear Zach,
You are correct that this is a Stink Bug in the family Pentatomidae, but we needed to research its identity. Relatively quickly we located the Featured Creatures site indicating that this is a Black Stink Bug, Proxys punctulatus, and this information is provided: “The biology of the black stink bug, Proxys punctulatus (Palisot), is not well known. It has a broad geographical range in the Americas but does not appear to damage agricultural crops as do other more important pentatomids. Black stink bugs appear to be facultative feeders on plants and other insects.” The host plants are listed as: “Black stink bugs have been collected in cotton, soybean and citrus. They feed on plant juices, with some documented association with Commelina (dayflowers) species. Although the black stink bug is a phytophagous species, it can also be predaceous, and has been found attacking insect larvae in cotton.” Additional information can be found on BugGuide. It seems the only other image of a Black Stink Bug in our archives is nine years old.
Black Stink Bug
I like This
