Armoured Tip-wilter - Canungrantmictis morindana
Family Coreidae
This page contains pictures and information about Armoured Tip-wilter Bugs that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Body length 30mm
- The bug adults were brown in colour, with the armour shape thorax. The head is small, has four segmented antenna with white tip. The hind legs expanded and somewhat leaf-like. Males have the much stronger hind legs than females.
- We found them in Ford Road Conservation Area during later summer Jan 2009. Different instars stages and adults were found feeding on the same host plant. Some adults were mating.
- 2nd instars 3rd instars
-
- 3rd instars were black in colour on the top, with white to pale blue on the bottom. They camouflaged as the wilted tips that they made.
- Last instars has the same body shape as adult, with the armour shape thorax. They are pale blue in colour with brown spots.
-
- Male and female
- All instars and adults were very slow moving. Most adults and nymphs fed on host plant stem near the new shot tip, with abdomen bottom facing upwards. This distorted their body shape as a bug and help for the camouflage.
- This could be a very rare species. This genus is single species and recently named and described by Brailovsky on 2002.
- Found this female bug again on Sep 2010 in Ford Road Conservation Area. It was alone and we did not able to find any other bugs nearby.
- Found a male, female and a last instars nymph in Brisbane Koala Bushlands next to the Tingalpa Creek on Feb 2012. They were all found on the host plant.
The Host Plant
- Sweet Morinda
- Morinda jasminoides (RUBIACEAE)
- The host plant is a climber vine. There were plenty of them in the creek valley. They climbed on all type of plants to about 2 meter high.
- Thank to Robert Whyte for the ID of the host plant.
- Reference:
- 1. Coreidae - Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, 2005.
- 2. Morinda jasminoides (RUBIACEAE) Sweet Morinda - Save Our Waterways Now, 2008.
- 3. New genus and new species of Mictini (Hemiptera: Coreidae) from Australia - BRAILOVSKY Harry, Entomological news, 2002, vol. 113, no1, pp. 29-33.
- 4. Species Canungrantmictis morindana Brailovsky, 2002 - Australian Biological Resources Study, Australian Faunal Directory.
