Fruit-spotting Bug - Amblypelta lutescens or A. nitida
Family Coreidae
This page contains pictures and information about Fruit-spotting Bugs that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Body length 15mm
- The bug has pale green body and legs. Its thorax and front wing covers are pale-brown in colour. Its legs and antenna are brown in colour with a bright yellow segments near the tips. As their name imply, they are the pest of fruit farming.
- We saw those bugs a few times from late summer to early winter. We found them on Hibiscus plants and other plants.
- Amblypelta lutescens (Banana-spotting Bug) and A. nitida (Fruit-spotting Bug) both can be found in Brisbane and they look very similar. It is hard to tell which is which.
Eggs and Nymphs
- Eggs, found on gum tree leaf on 19 Feb 2011.
- 1st instars, hatched on 25 Feb 2011
- 2nd instars, 26 Fed 2011
- The 2nd instars look very similar to the Common Assassin Bug instars. It is quite obvious that there will be some advantages to mimic those biting bugs.
- 3rd instars, body length 8mm
- We find this small bug nymph waving its very large pair of antenna on the Hibiscus Plant in our backyard during late summer.
- 4th instars, body length 12mm
- The last instars looks similar to the adult bugs except their wings are not fully developed. We found a number on them, nymphs and adults, on the same plant early winter. When disturbed they hide on the other side of the leaf.
-
- 5th instars, body length 15mm
- Reference:
- 1. Coreidae:
Amblypelta lutescens Distant - banana spotting bug
- ICDB, Western Australian Department of Agriculture, 2006.
2. Plant Bugs - Dr Murray Fletcher, PRIMEFACT 508, NSW DPI, May 2007. - 3. THE AUSTRALIAN SPECIES OF AMBLYPELTA STÅL (HEMIPTERA: COREIDAE) - J. F. DONALDSON, J. Aust. ent. Soc., 1983,22 41-52.
- 4. Banana-spotting & fruit-spotting bugs in rare fruit - David Astridge, Harry Fay and Rod Elder, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.
