Subject:  Pretty Bug
Geographic location of the bug:  Bolsa Chica Reserve, Huntington Beach, CA
Date: 05/22/2018
Time: 02:06 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  We saw many of these colorful bugs on a bladder pod plant. What are they?
How you want your letter signed:  Espressive

Harlequin Stink Bugs

These colorful Harlequin Stink Bugs, Murgantia histrionica, are commonly found feeding on plants in the cabbage family, so you finding them on bladderpod piqued our curiosity.  According to BugGuide:  “hosts: primarily Brassicaceae (horseradish, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, mustard, Brussels sprouts, turnip, kohlrabi, radish); may also attack tomato, potato, eggplant, okra, bean, asparagus, beet, weeds, fruit trees and field crops.“

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Subject:  Ornate white lined shield bug needs a name!
Geographic location of the bug:  Cheyenne, Wyoming
Date: 05/21/2018
Time: 01:27 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  My friend sent me a picture of this shield bug.  However, I have never seen anything like it.  Moths, yes, but not a shield bug.
Could you please help me narrow down the shield bug identification?
Thank you!!
How you want your letter signed:  Fish Seal

Two Spotted Stink Bug

Dear Fish Seal,
This is a Two Spotted Stink Bug, a species that is highly variable in color.  Some individuals are white like the one you sent us for identification, and some Two Spotted Stink Bugs are red in color.

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Subject:  Pretty Mystery Beetles
Geographic location of the bug:  Unknown
Date: 05/11/2018
Time: 12:32 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  A friend who is a collector was gifted this by a friend, and before I go on, I just want to specify that the friend who collects always makes sure the creatures died naturally, or humanely if not naturally (ie severely deformed & no quality of life, euthanized humanely etc), and is an animal lover, but as this was gifted to him, he is unsure of its origins in this instance, but I hope that does not dissuade you from identifying these fascinatingly beautiful beetles if possible…
How you want your letter signed:  Pam

Shield Bugs in decorative Mounting

Dear Pam,
These are not beetles.  They are Shield Bugs in the order Scutellaridae.  Without a country of origin, it will be difficult to determine an exact species, but they do resemble the individual in this FlickR posting that be believe was taken in Portugal.  The decorative presentation is reminiscent of Victorian displays.

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Subject:  A mystery Shield Bug in Costa Rica
Geographic location of the bug:  San Ramon, Costa Rica
Date: 01/20/2018
Time: 01:01 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I found this bug in a bromeliad leaf. It’s so pretty and I wanted to find out what he was. Thanks!
How you want your letter signed:  Irene Dickinson

Shield Bug

Dear Irene,
This really is a beautiful Shield Bug in the family Scutellaridae, and it is quite apparent why in parts of the world, Shield Bugs are called Jewel Bugs, notably Australia, as this Queensland Museum posting indicates.  Alas we were not having any luck locating images online of white Shield Bugs from Costa Rica, so we turned to our own archives where we have an image posted of a Spotted Shield Bug, Pachycoris torridus, from Costa Rica that looks similar but is quite different in both colors and markings.  We thought perhaps your individual might be in the same genus.  We were actually shocked to learn it is the same species, based on this image from Project Noah.  According to Neotropical Entomology there is much variation in both colors and markings for this species.

Shield Bug

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Subject:  need help identifying a cute bug my friend found
Geographic location of the bug:  sao paulo brazil
Date: 01/19/2018
Time: 05:18 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  hi my friend sent me this bug he thought was really pretty and i wanted to help identify it for him but i couldnt for the life of me figure out what the lil guy was!!!
my friend said it didnt jump or fly at all. it just crawled around
and if i had to guess it could be like a nymph of something maybe???
(these are my friends images)
How you want your letter signed:  charlie

Stink Bug Hatchling

Dear Charlie,
This little guy is a hatchling Heteropteran or True Bug, and we are pretty certain it is a hatchling Stink Bug in the family Pentatomidae.  It might not be possible to provide a species as nymphs can be difficult to identify with certainty.

Stink Bug Hatchling

THANKS SO MUCH
Me n him were goin crazy trying 2 figure it out haha!!! We thought it might have been a stink bug but we werent sure because we only came across brown stinkbug nymphs in our search i think, none that looked like this.
Its nice 2 know definitely thats what it was!!! Thanks a big bunch

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