Red Eyes Bug - Leptocoris tagalicus
Family Rhopalidae
This page contains pictures and information about the Red Eyes Bugs that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Body length 15mm
The bug has bright red eyes and red abdomen. Its thorax and front wing covers are reddish-brown in colour. Its legs and antenna are all on black. The L. mitellata and L. tagalicus are looked exactly the same and it is almost impassable to distinguished them in photo. The L. mitellata is usually found on ground while L. tagalicus is found on plants.
- The bug can be found on different type of plants. From the reference information, bugs in genus Leptocoris are seed predators of plants in family Sapindaceae. They are also known as Soapberry Bugs.
- This bug is common in Brisbane garden and backyards. They feed on plant seeds. Usually they do not do noticeable harm to the host plant.
- The bugs also feed on flowers.
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- 5th instars, body length12mm
- The nymph looks similar to the adult bugs except their wings are not fully developed. We found a number on them, including nymphs and adults, on the Lantana plants during early summer. When disturbed they hided on the other side of the leaf.
- Reference:
- 1. Insects
of Australia, CSIRO, Division of Entomology, Melbourne University
Press, 2nd Edition 1991, pp 504.
- 2. Plant bugs, Prime Facts - by Dr Murray Fletcher, 2007, www.dpi.gov.au
- 3. Wildlife of Greater Brisbane - New edition, Published by Queensland Museum 2007, p121.
- 4. Leptocoris mitellata Bergroth - Australian Insect Common Names, 2005, CSIRO.
- 5. RHOPALIDAE Scentless Plant Bugs - Save Our Waterways Now, 2008.
- 6. Ecology of Leptocoris Hahn (Hemiptera: Rhopalidae) soapberry bugs - Carroll, Scott P; Loye, Jenella E; Dingle, Hugh; Mathieson, Michael1; Zalucki, Myron P., Australian Journal of Entomology, 44. 344-353, 2005.
- 7. Studies on the biology, immature stages, and relative growth of some Australian bugs of the superfamily Coreoidea (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) - Kumar, R. 1966, Australian Journal of Zoology 14: 895-991 [908].
