Brown Shield Bug
S5, profile
Ellura
Brown Shield Bug
S7, close up
 
                      
Brown Shield Bug (Poecilometis fuscescens)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: True Bugs (Hemiptera)
Family: Stink Bug (Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Brown Shield Bug (Poecilometis fuscescens)
This Photo:     🔍S5, close up🔎

Thank you Mike Burrell for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
~17mm long.
When identifiying Poecilometis, leg colour, antennae colour & segments, body colour and shoulder spines (or not) are all useful diagnostics. They can have different shades of colour, but generally the patterns are consistent. Notice here the spiny shoulders, pattern of beige blotches on the dark reddish base colour. Legs have pale sections and the antennae generally have orange on one side of the segment joins but not the other.
We have found Poecilometis with different antennal segment counts on the specimen, so these can't be relied on completely.

Copyright © 2021-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 27-Feb-2021
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.