Green Stink Bug Nymph

Yellow, black, orange beetle?
September 11, 2009
Hi,
I am a photographer here in Eastern PA, I go to different National Parks here to photograph insects and others. I found this fellow hanging on a leaf in the dense Nolde Forest here in Reading, PA. After looking online I still can not identify this bug/beetle? Where I found him is was damp and in dense forest. Any ideas?
Monique Francescon
Nolde Forest/ Reading, PA

HI Monique,
We spent a bit of time searching through images on BugGuide, but we are confident we have identified your insect as Acrosternum hilare.  Interestingly, you may find it hard to believe that the common name is the Green Stink Bug.  This is an immature specimen and the coloration is quite variable.  BugGuide also has this disclaimer:  “This is our best interpretation of the BugGuide images based upon Herb Pilcher’s images above. The variation in these images may be because the species is very variable, or it may be that we have images of several different species of Acrosternum here. We put these images on both the genus and the A. hilare species pages since, as a number of people have commented, it is not clear that we yet know how to tell the different Acrosternum species apart.”

Hi!
Thank you for your prompt response! Using the name of the bug you gave me, I looked it up and it appears to be a green stink bug nymph…Very cool and thank you for your help, it is greatly appreciated.
Monique Francescon