Looks like a Lady Bug with a Trapezoid Back
Location: Upstate South Carolina
October 15, 2011 1:34 pm
I have many of these dark bugs…they look like lady bugs except they have dark brown shells that are trapezoid shaped. They tend to cluster. Any ideas?
Signature: Stephen
Dear Stephen,
You have invasive exotic Lablab Bugs that feed on Kudzu as well as soybeans. We just posted another letter and we refer you to the information there.
Ok posted comment in the fall about these Lablab’s. The mild winter did not help. When the temp hit low 80 for a couple of days-they are now out in force. How can we get rid of them?
Hi Roland,
We do not give extermination advice, but perhaps one of our readers may be able to provide you with information. Since they are found in association with the invasive kudzu vines, you might want to try eliminating the kudzu you have growing on your property.
from my understanding they a kuzuu beetles . I think that is how you spell it. they were put out by the gov to cut down on some of the kuzuu that has overtaken native species. kuzuu was brought here from some where like china or japan and that’s where the beetles are from also, I think
They are not beetles, but true bugs in the order Hemiptera. While we are aware of the common name Kudzu Bug, Megacopta cribraria, Lablab Bug is also an accepted common name. This is the first we have heard that they are an intentional introduction. According to BugGuide: “native to e./se. Asia, adventive in the US & Australia” and “highly invasive species of mixed impact: it seems to prefer kudzu (a highly invasive and damaging plant), but can also become a serious pest of leguminous crops.” If this was a government introduction, it was a goof. We decided to research this. According to Eat the Invaders: “Kudzu was first brought to the U.S. by Japan, which promoted it as an ornamental and as a forage crop at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. By 1900, its fragrant grape-scented purple flowers and the vine’s ability seemingly to cover a trellis in a night had made it popular on porches throughout the Southeastern US. Despite the warning of a visionary biologist named David Fairchild in 1902 that this vine could become something new to the scientific community, an “invasive species,” kudzu was planted through the South, first as livestock feed, then as erosion control along highways. Farmers were paid to plant the stuff in the 1940s. … But recently the story took a fascinating turn. Invasives often thrive in the absence of native predators, competitors, or parasites. In 2009, what’s been dubbed the kudzu bug was identified in the South, a brand new invader from Asia. It eats kudzu–joy of joys–but that’s not all it eats. It devours soybeans, too, a huge moneymaker of a crop. What’s the solution?” According to North Carolina Cooperative Education: “The kudzu bug (bean plataspid, globular stinkbug) was first discovered on kudzu vine in the vicinity of Atlanta, Georgia, during the fall of 2009. From this initial accidental introduction (this pest was NOT intentionally introduced to manage kudzu), kudzu bug has quickly become established as a severe economic pest of soybean in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.”
Thanks for help identifying my lone Lablab bug found on my bed in late Nov in eastern Ky. Hopefully there are no “friends” lurking about.
I have no close kudzu but it’s nearby on the river bank and in wooded areas.
We had an abundance of the plant in our garden in Greenville , SC during the 1990’s where we saw tree roaches snd red fire ants.
Thank you
I have these all over my house in NJ & i think they are biting us HELP! 2 months of cleaning, spraying Ortho Home Defense by the gallons & 3 fog/bomb events in the house. Still seeing them, ugh!!