I'm not sure whether it is this one or the Japanese beetles eating my plants...any ideas? I have only seen a few of these. It is about 1/4-inch long and the yellow-green color on the belly. He does not appreciate being photographed and having tried I am now even more impressed with the insect photos being posted.
I posted this in the Identification forum and it probably should have been here.
This is a bug (Hemiptera), so it is definnitely not chewing your leaves (it doesn't have the mouthparts for it).
Though I'm not quite sure of the coloration - if this is what I think it is, its back is usually more cream/pinkish and less green - but I think that this is a beneficial, predatory stink bug (family Pentatomidae), and is probably a nymph of a spined soldier bug or something related. Go here and see if this is your guy... http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=0014175 .
And here's a picture of one in action... http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=1204049 . As you can see in that last picture, these guys are pretty voracious predators and can capture and eat insects many times their size.
The Hemiptera is definitely very similar to my bug -- the green is very green on mine, but other than that the markings are nearly identical. I guess I will watch and not squish if it's true that he isn't eating my flowers! He's not very happy in his jar, so maybe I should give him a break!
Thank you for the link!
Does anyone sell this bug ?
shudhave - he probably wouldn't mind being in your jar so much if you threw some bugs in there for him to eat - hee. I was collecting bugs to photograph one day, and it wasn't 15 minutes in the jar before my predatory stink bug was eating one of the other critters I had collected.
He'd probably also be pretty happy though on any plant in your garden that has other insects or spiders on it. He's not picky. He'll eat just about anything.
Well, hopefully he's happy and has forgiven me for keeping him captive for a day! He is back in the garden as of last night and I'm sure he didn't have any trouble finding a succulent dinner. This has been a good year for bugs!
Green Stink Bug, Acrosternum hilare
http://www.pbase.com/tmurray74/image/28292572
luckily I stumbled across this before I found these bugs, I was searching for another. If you post bugs on the new Bug ID Forum you would stand a good chance of getting an ID.
Very interesting! That is, indeed, the bug! I have seen a couple of additional ones and they do get larger as they age. The green color moderates a bit, too. I will certainly post any additional bugs in the Bug ID Forum -- isn't this site the most amazing resource!
Thank you very much for your links!
We found some stink bugs in our house, in an old package of stationery. They are apparently hard to get rid of (though I haven't seen any in 6 months or so). Not that you might be inclined to release them inside. . . .
Will you add it to the BugFiles, there is no Acrosternum yet so you will need to 'add a bug'.
Order and Family are on the Cedarcreek link.
