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As a general rule, stink bugs are vegetarians, ravenous plant-eaters, many even damage agricultural crops. Stink bugs are in the insect order Hemiptera, which also includes cicadas, leafhoppers, aphids and planthoppers. Most all have extended mouthparts to pierce and suck plant juices like slurping up a green milkshake through a straw.
But the Florida predatory stink bug, Euthyrhynchus floridanus, is a carnivore! It's considered a beneficial insect because it attacks, pierces and sucks the juices out of other insects, most of its prey consists of plant-damaging bugs, beetles and caterpillars. And these metallic green and orange-red bugs often attack in packs like wolves.
Wowza!
Ed Yost found the above Florida predatory stink bug at Ijams Nature Center. It's an early instar and won't morph into its final adult form until later in the season.
1 comment:
Thanks for the stink bug post. I saw two of these on the patio the other day and thought they looked really cool but had no idea what they were! I was a *little* concerned!
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