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Stink Bug
Hemiptera: Pentatomidae
PESTS
Adults are normally 1/2 inch long shield-shaped bugs with a sword-like stylet tucked up under the body. When hatched, the tiny nymphs can be pinkish, black, or orange. As the nymphs grow, they may change colors or patterns, until attaining adult hues. Both nymphs and adults have glands that discharge a foul odor when disturbed.
Life Cycle:
Egg, nymph, adult. Barrel-shaped eggs are laid in clusters on undersides of foliage on a host food plant. After hatching, the nymphs stay close to the empty eggs, but soon disperse and begin feeding. Adult stage is reached a month or two after hatching, with several generations produced per year. Adults overwinter in leaf litter, tree bark, or other sheltered locations.
Diet:
Most of this group are plant feeders, sucking sap from buds, flowers, and young fruits. Using piercing-sucking mouthparts, saliva is pumped in, and the liquefied food is sucked back up. The saliva kills cells at the site, causing deformation in young fruit and a bad tasting, hard mass in ripe fruit, damaging pecans, beans, peaches, tomatoes, soy, and cotton. Other stink bugs (e.g., the Spined Soldier Bug) can be beneficial insect predators, attacking webworms, tent caterpillars, potato beetles, and grubs. Some stink bugs start life as plant feeders, and later switch to an insect diet! Natural predators of stink bugs include tachinid flies and the tiny wasp Trissolcus basalis.
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