Bean Plataspid

Description:

Plataspidae; Plataspinae; Coptosoma obtusiceps Stål, 1871. Any commercial vegetable farmer in the Philippines will hate this stink bug because it can do severe damage to his bean harvest. However, as a bug enthusiast, I am always happy to see them. The bugs, in my pictures here, are the first I have spotted on a new bean plant in our front garden. So I know, from experience what lies ahead in the coming weeks. I will be able to take plenty of pictures of individual bugs, male and female, then copulating pairs followed by ovulating females, rafts of eggs on leaves and then great numbers of nymphs, the next generation.

Habitat:

I spotted these Coptosoma obtusiceps in our front garden, this morning, on a Hyacinth Bean Vine (Lablab purpureus).

Notes:

On the third picture above, the bug behind the C. obtusiceps is a Big-eyed Bug (Geocoris flaviceps flaviceps). That species often appears on bean plants.