Black-spotted Shield Bug
S1, Female, dorsal
Black-spotted Shield Bug
S1, Female, profile
| Black-spotted Shield Bug S1, Female, dorsal | | Black-spotted Shield Bug S1, Female, profile | | ||
 | Class: | Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) | |||
| Order: | True Bugs (Hemiptera) | ||||
| Family: | Stink Bug (Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae) iNaturalist Observation | ||||
| Species: | Black-spotted Shield Bug (Cuspicona intacta) | ||||
| This Photo: | 🔍S2, Male, dorsal🔎 | ||||
Thank you Won-Gun Kim & Danilo Lüdke for confirming the id of this species for us General Species Information: Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere ~10mm long, covered in punctuations, randomly splattered with black. The black patches are not easily visible to the naked eye. Most Cuspicona are green, but turn yellow brown after death (ie Museum Specimens). Our neighbour has since found a yellow one of these. These are supposed to have 5 antennal segments, but as we have been found before with this family, this one has 5 segments on one antenna and 4 on the other. A deformation, not a lost tip. Notice how both specimens follow this trait. The 1st segments are very pale, with the 3rd segment turning red/brown towards the far end. The head looks quite long and pointy, yet is wider (at the eyes) than long. This is probably due to the face narrowing quickly below the eyes. Notice the transparent wings that look white, compared to normally dark/black wings. We have noted the Keels on this type of bug before. Notice here how it is definately used as a support for the proboscis; it's cupped to fit. It is on both males & females. These are known to feed on Eremophila freelingii, which is not found in our region but much further North. However it was found on a flyscreen adjacent to a patch of Eremophila longifolia. One can surmise the one we found feeds on that species of emu bush too. It does look similar to an E. longifolia drying fruit. We also have a lot of E. glabra around. As regards our pale brown one Won-Gun said "The yellow or orange color is uncommon in this genus. So I think your bug may be a color morph of this species." Danilo explained further "Actually I also believe that this might be a colour morph rather than a freshly moulted one. As it is usually the black pigments that take longest to develop, I would assume that in the meantime all the other body parts already have their 'correct' colour. Such a form is also known e.g. from Nezara viridula (forma aurantiaca) and apparently also occurring in other 'green bug groups'." | |||||
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