Beautiful yet a nuisance
Hi Bug man
Please view the attached picture of a very beautiful bug that I spotted yesterday in my friend’s garden. There are not 2, 4 or 6 but a few hundreds of them. They cut circular holes in the leaves. Please identify them & give prescribe a safe control measure for the same. Thanks in anticipation. Regards
Azmi
Hi Azmi,
Though you did not provide us with a location, your email address tends to indicate Singapore. These are mating Stink Bugs in the family Pentatomidae, though we are not certain of the species. They are NOT responsible for the circular holes. Stink Bugs do not chew plants, they suck the juices.
Update: February 2, 2013
We just received a comment identifying this Stink Bug as Catacanthus incarnatus and Encyclopedia of Life substantiates that identification.
Catacanthus incarnatus I believe.
Thanks so much for this tip on the identity of the mating Stink Bugs from Singapore.
Catacanthus incarnatus (Man-Faced Stinkbug) is quite common in Singapore. This photo shows 2 specimens stored at the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity’s zoological collection. They were collected from Kent Ridge Park (southwestern S’pore) in May 1992.
@ Azmi: “They cut circular holes in the leaves. Please identify them & give prescribe a safe control measure for the same.”
Catacanthus incarnatus does not chew circular holes in leaves. This stinkbug feeds on plant sap, nectar & flower/ fruit buds.
On the other hand, bagworm (moth) larvae are known to create round holes in foliage. In Singapore, one of the most commonly-encountered bagworm species is Pagodiella hekmeyeri (Pagoda Bagworm), which typically makes circular shotgun-like holes in foliage.
Are there bag-like cases (with overlapping brown leafy “scales”) hanging from the underside of your plant’s leaves ? These bag-cases are the mobile hiding spots of the juvenile larvae. They chew on the leaf epidermis, & excise a circular wound from which they extract a piece of the leaf to further build up their bag-cases.
In S’pore, the Pagoda Bagworm likes feeding on woody plants like Syzygium spp. (syn. Eugenia spp.) [eg. Syzygium aqueum (Jambu Ayer, Water Apple)], Ardisia elliptica (Mata Pelandok, Seashore Ardisia), Corymbia ptychocarpa (syn. Eucalyptus ptychocarpa, Swamp Bloodwood), as well as some mangrove flora species.
The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of S’pore (AVA) recommends that badly-infested branches be pruned off. If the bagworm larvae (& bag-cases) are still small, they may be controlled with insecticides like cypermethrin, dimethoate & avermectin.
More info & photos:
* The Pagoda Bagworm (Urban Forest SG – 10 Jan 2007)
* Photo of bagworm case in Thailand (pbase – 12 Mar 2011)
* Pest News (pg 2) (AVA S’pore – Nov 2009)
Thanks so much for providing a link on the Man-Faced Stink Bug.
Catacanthus incarnatus (Man-Faced Stinkbug) is quite common in Singapore. This photo shows 2 specimens stored at the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity’s zoological collection. They were collected from Kent Ridge Park (southwestern S’pore) in May 1992.
@ Azmi: “They cut circular holes in the leaves. Please identify them & give prescribe a safe control measure for the same.”
Catacanthus incarnatus does not chew circular holes in leaves. This stinkbug feeds on plant sap, nectar & flower/ fruit buds.
On the other hand, bagworm (moth) larvae are known to create round holes in foliage. In Singapore, one of the most commonly-encountered bagworm species is Pagodiella hekmeyeri (Pagoda Bagworm), which typically makes circular shotgun-like holes in foliage.
Are there bag-like cases (with overlapping brown leafy “scales”) hanging from the underside of your plant’s leaves ? These bag-cases are the mobile hiding spots of the juvenile larvae. They chew on the leaf epidermis, & excise a circular wound from which they extract a piece of the leaf to further build up their bag-cases.
In S’pore, the Pagoda Bagworm likes feeding on woody plants like Syzygium spp. (syn. Eugenia spp.) [eg. Syzygium aqueum (Jambu Ayer, Water Apple)], Ardisia elliptica (Mata Pelandok, Seashore Ardisia), Corymbia ptychocarpa (syn. Eucalyptus ptychocarpa, Swamp Bloodwood), as well as some mangrove flora species.
The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of S’pore (AVA) recommends that badly-infested branches be pruned off. If the bagworm larvae (& bag-cases) are still small, they may be controlled with insecticides like cypermethrin, dimethoate & avermectin.
More info & photos:
* The Pagoda Bagworm (Urban Forest SG – 10 Jan 2007)
* Photo of bagworm case in Thailand (pbase – 12 Mar 2011)
* Pest News (pg 2) (AVA S’pore – Nov 2009)