Subject: Large pink bug
Geographic location of the bug: Champaign, IL
Date: 08/01/2019
Time: 07:45 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: We found this large pink bug on the car. It’s about the size of a large wolf spider (just a comparison) and made us think of stink bugs but with it being pink instead of brown we did not know what it was. We just took pictures and left it alone.
How you want your letter signed: Big pink big
Dear Big pink big,
In a more general sense, this is a Big Legged Bug nymph in the family Coreidae, and of that we are certain. We are speculating on the genus, but we cannot find visual evidence online. The closest we could find is of a later instar Big Legged Bug nymph, Acanthocephala declivis, pictured on BugGuide, but it is not pink. Many insects are pale in coloration immediately after molting, like this example of a molting Wheel Bug, and we believe your Big Legged Bug is newly molted, which is why it is pink, and it will soon darken to gray.
