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Family Lygaeidae
- This page contains pictures and information about 4-Coloured Bugs that
we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
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 - Body length 16mm
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- The bug is colourful, with red head, brown thorax, yellow wing-covers and
black wing tips. Its abdomen is bright orange-yellow with red tip. The bug is
eye-catching when sitting on green plants.
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- On early Jan 2009, we found one in Ford Road Conservation Area, it was wandering
around and feeding on food plants.
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- Above picture shows the bug sucking juice from a plant new shot. Notice the
plant tip is wilted.
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- Two weeks later we visit the same place, on the host plants, we found many
of them feeding in groups, some were last instars and most were adults. They
were quite a number of mating pairs.
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- End January must be their mating season.
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- The host plant sap is milky, which is believed toxic and taste terrible to
birds and mammals. The bugs might store those toxic materials in their body,
becomes toxic to the predators too. The bugs' bright body colours is a
strong warning message - "I am toxic, don't eat me".
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- One week later, end Jan 2009, we went back there again and found that
there were many group of young instars on different host plants.
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- In some groups of instars, we noticed there were one or two adult bugs
wandering around. We were not sure if they were the instars' parents and
doing the guarding jobs.
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- Occasionally the bugs were also found on Milk Weeds,
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Host Plant
- Milk Vine
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- Marsdenia sp. (?M. lloydii), Family Apocynacea
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- We found this Milk Vine in a dry creek valley in Ford Road Conservation
Area. There were many of them. This is a climber plants with latex milky
sap.
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- Besides this 4-Coloured Bug, we found a Crow
Butterfly caterpillar also feeding on leaves of this plant.
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- Thank to Robert
Whyte for the ID of the host plant.
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- Reference:
- 1. True Bugs - family Pyrrhocoridae - by Nick Monaghan, lifeunseen.com.
- 2. Marsdenia lloydii P.I.Forst
- PlantNET, Botanic Gardens Trust. Sydney, Australia, 2008.
- 3. A taxonomic revision of the Lygaeinae of Australia (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae) - Slater, A., University of Kansas science bulletin, v. 52(8,i.e.9) p. 301-481, 1985.
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