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Project Noah Nature School
Chelinidea vittiger
Spotted on a cactus. This is a species of leaf-footed bug in the family Coreidae. These specialist insects that feed largely on the pads of prickly pear (Opuntia spp.).
Spotted on a cactus at the McAllen Nature Center.
Both nymph and adult forms of prickly pear cactus bugs feed on the pads of prickly pear. They use special structures to pierce the tough leaves and suck the sap from the pad, resulting in conspicuous white to brown dime-sized rings after feeding has been in progress a while. As the injury enlarges, the rings often collapse or hollow, and fungi invade the pad, causing it to die and drop. The prickly pear bug, however, appears to be more effective at interfering with the reproduction of the prickly pear rather than being a direct means of control of adult plants.
Spotted on Oct 8, 2019
Submitted on Oct 26, 2019
