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Mating Rough Stink Bugs

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Subject:  Mating Stink Bugs
Geographic location of the bug:  Jacksonville, Florida
Date: 09/22/2018
Time: 09:50 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I saw these flat, mating bugs that look like some sort of stink bug.  The picture was taken 9/22/2018 around 12:30 PM.
How you want your letter signed:  EK Gilley

Mating Rough Stink Bugs

Dear EK Gilley,
These are indeed mating Stink Bugs.  More specifically, they are mating Tree Stink Bugs or Rough Stink Bugs in the genus Brochymena.  According to BugGuide:  “Usually bark-like (cryptic). Lateral teeth on juga. Head elongated, pronotum laterally with toothlike projections, and rear margin of abdomen has pleated pattern.”  We haven’t posted a new image representing this genus in over a decade and we have learned quite a bit since then.  We used to write that they are a predatory species (a claim we never source cited) but we have come to realize this is not always the case, and as BugGuide indicates, they are:  “phytophagous (some reports of predation).” 

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Mating Stink Bugs

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Subject:  Blue beetle?
Geographic location of the bug:  Homestead , FL
Date: 09/10/2018
Time: 07:40 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Found about 15-20 of  these pairing up in the hedges near the Dante Fascell visitor center of biscayne National Park. Can you give me an ID?
How you want your letter signed:  Lisa

Stink Bug

Dear Lisa,
These are not Beetles.  They are Stink Bugs and we identified them as Murgantia violascens thanks to BugGuide where it states the range is:  “FL / W. Indies, BG records are from Key West.”  The species is also pictured on iNaturalist.

Stink Bug

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Spined Soldier Bug Eggs on Woody Plant

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Subject:  Insect ID
Geographic location of the bug:  North Central Massachusetts
Date: 08/29/2018
Time: 05:18 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Can you please ID this bug I found on my cannabis plant?
How you want your letter signed:  thanks, Hammer

Spined Soldier Bug Eggs

Dear Hammer,
These are Stink Bug eggs, and generally, if a gardener finds a cluster of Stink Bug eggs on a cherished plant, it would be a problem, but thank to this BugGuide image, we have identified the eggs you found as those of a predatory Spined Soldier Bug in the genus Podisus.  If you have not destroyed the eggs, we would urge you to return them or allow them to hatch and return the nymphs back to the plant because according to BugGuide:  “preys on a wide variety of other arthropods, especially larval forms of Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. Examples: known to eat Mexican bean beetles, European corn borers, diamondback moths, corn earworms, beet armyworms, fall armyworms, cabbage loopers, imported cabbageworms, Colorado potato beetles, and velvetbean caterpillars.”  We have learned that the Tobacco Budworm, Heliothis virescens, a species of Cutworm, can decimate a budding Cannabis plant that is close to harvest by burrowing into the center of the bud and feeding from the inside out without being detected until the entire bud turns brown. Here is a BugGuide image of the hatchling Spined Soldier Bugs so you can recognize them, and recognizing the adult Spined Soldier Bug will allow you to maintain the species in your garden so your crop will be more organic. 

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Predatory Stink Bug Nymph eats Caterpillar

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Subject:  What bug is this?
Geographic location of the bug:  Cincinnati,  ohio
Date: 08/28/2018
Time: 09:34 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hi! We found this guy munching on some caterpillars on our kale plant.  Any idea what kind of big this is?
How you want your letter signed:  Ginja ninja

Predatory Stink Bug Nymph eats Caterpillar

Dear Ginja ninja,
The predator is a Stink Bug nymph and we have identified it as an immature Spined Soldier Bug, a member of the genus Podisus, thanks to this BugGuide image.  According to BugGuide:  “preys on a wide variety of other arthropods, especially larval forms of Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. known to eat Mexican bean beetles, European corn borers, diamondback moths, corn earworms, beet armyworms, fall armyworms, cabbage loopers, imported cabbageworms, Colorado potato beetles, and velvetbean caterpillars.”  We will attempt to identify your Moth Caterpillar as well, but we are surmising that since it was found on kale, it is most likely an undesirable species.

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Nymphs

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Subject:  Little Stinkers
Geographic location of the bug:  Andover, NJ
Date: 08/18/2018
Time: 03:56 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hi Daniel,
Just a share.  I found a little cluster of what I believe to be Marmolated Stink Bugs on a hibiscus plant and have been keeping an eye on them.  At first they move around together like a little battalion – very cute.  Today, however, they molted and started setting out on their own.  All were black except one that is white.  I thought that was odd, but read here that sometimes freshly molted nymphs of this species are white, so assume that is what it is.  I am attached a couple of photos showing both color variations as well as one of a nymph inspecting the exuvia, almost as if to say “I can’t believe I used to fit into that thing.”
Hope you are having a great, buggy weekend.
How you want your letter signed:  Deborah Bifulco

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug nymph

Hi Deborah,
Based on this BugGuide image, your nymphs are in the second instar phase, meaning they have molted once since hatching.  They change and get larger after each molt.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug nymphs

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug nymphs

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Red Shouldered Stink Bug on Woody Plant (including snarky Facebook comment)

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Subject:  What’s This Bug on my Super Lemon Haze hybrid?
Geographic location of the bug:  Mount Washington, Los Angeles, California
Date: 08/12/2018
Time: 08:30 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Dear Bugman,
I was out inspecting my garden this morning and discovered a new bug on my Super Lemon Haze hybrid.  Is this a friend or foe?  I am especially concerned as my plants are beginning to bud.
Thanks
How you want your letter signed: Constant Gardener

Red Shouldered Stink Bug on Woody Plant

Dear Constant Gardener,
This is a Stink Bug in the family Pentatomidae, and most members of the family feed on plants by piercing the surface and sucking fluids with a proboscis, while others are predatory and beneficial in the garden.  We quickly identified your individual as Thyanta pallidovirens thanks to this BugGuide image, but unfortunately, BugGuide does not provide many specifics on the species or its feeding habits.  Encyclopedia of Life calls this species the Red Shouldered Stink Bug.  The University of California Integrated Pest Management System recognizes it as a pest of tomatoes and other crops, so our opinion is “foe.”

Stink Bug, Thyanta pallidovirens, on Woody Plant

Facebook Comment from Jason Stowe:
It seems the easiest way to get a question answered or a bug identified is to take it on a pot plant.

Rebuttal from Our Editorial Staff:
Over the years, we have created tags related to specific plants that have ecosystems associated with them, including Milkweed Meadow, Goldenrod Meadow and Tomato Bugs as well as the recently added What’s on my Woody Plant?, the latter focusing on insects found by home Cannabis growers.  What’s That Bug? currently has 26,186 unique postings and only 33 are archived on the tag that targets Cannabis growers.  That represents .126% of our postings.  That said, Jason Stowe is exaggerating.  By comparison there are 973 postings currently archived on WTB? Down Under representing 3.72% of our postings, so, in fact, a far easier way to get something identified is to move to Australia.  Also, for the record, what we really hate identifying are victims of Unnecessary Carnage, yet we have identified 263 of them, and that is only the submissions we have posted and tagged, and does not take into consideration replies we have made but not posted.

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination