Stink Bugs - Superfamily PENTATOMOIDEA
This page contains pictures and information about Stink Bugs that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Hibiscus Harlequin Bug, sucking juice from a hibiscus flower bud.
Any shield-shaped insect of the superfamily Pentatomoidea, especially any of the family Pentatomidae called Shield Bug. They also called Stink Bug. They have stink glands. These glands usually give off a foul odor when the insect is disturbed.
As all other bugs in the Order Hemiptera, bugs in superfamily Pentatomoidea have one common characteristic: their sucking mouths. All of them suck juice from plants or other insects.
They usually have flat and soft bodies. Their forewings are toughen on the base area and with a membranous tip part. Their antennae are well developed with up to five segments.
- Stink bug 1st instars
They are
incomplete metamorphosis and their young, the nymphs, look much the same as
their adults except smaller and wingless.
When bugs just hatched from eggs as 1st instars, they usually stay around their eggs cases. In general the1st instars nymph bugs do not feed when they first emerge. They spend some time ingesting bacteria which the female deposited on the eggs when she laid them. The bug have to liquefy the food with saliva first before they can feed on it.
Family Pentatomidae - Stink Bugs - Bugs in this family will emit a pungent, evil-smelling liquid if disturbed. Their antennae are 5-segmented. Their body are usually in shield-shaped. Stink bugs are distinguished from other bugs by their triangular scutellum which is well extended to cover half of their back. Their legs are thin and with no spines.
Family Scutelleridae - Shield Backed Bugs Bugs in this family are usually colourful with metallic colour of spots. Shield-backed bugs are plant suckers. They can be distinguished from other bugs by their scutellum completely covered the whole abdomen and wings. This family are closely related to stink bugs and also produce offensive odors when disturbed.
Family Tessaratomidae- Family Tessaratomidae is a small family very close to Family Pentatomidae. All members in this family look like pentatomid except they are large and with very small head. Like the Stink Bugs, they will also will emit a pungent, evil-smelling liquid if disturbed. We only found one species in this family.
Classification :
Superfamily PENTATOMOIDEA
- Reference:
- 1. Insects of Australia, CSIRO, Division of Entomology, Melbourne University Press, 2nd Edition 1991, pp 508.
