Sweet Potato Bug

Description:

Physomerus grossipes (Fabricius, 1794), the Sweetpotato Bug or Large Spine-footed Bug, is a species of insect in the family Coreidae. Native to Southeast Asia, the species has immigrated to the Pacific Islands. Frequently laying its eggs on the same Leguminosae and Convolvulaceae plants on which it feeds, the female of P. grossipes is very protective of her young, notably guarding both eggs and nymphs from predators. The female of P. grossipes is regarded as providing the "best known example" of "maternal care in the large family Coreidae." Mothers guard their eggs, threatening and occasionally even rushing at the predators that approach them. In addition, P. grossipes generates a strong-smelling fluid from a metathoracic gland with which the mother sprays larger predators through the anal orifice. Spotted these coreid leaf-footed bugs, later identified as sweetpotato bugs, in a group, huddled at the sweet potato plant. Each bug has length of about 1.5-2.0 cms (excluding antennae). This genus is considered a crop pest. IDd before as Anoplocnemis sp. The nymphs can be seen in this spotting: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/172....

Habitat:

Backyard garden.

Notes:

Reference: http://www.puiya.com/index.php?lay=show&.... http://coreoidea.speciesfile.org/Common/.... http://potokito-myshot.blogspot.com/2012.... http://hihort.blogspot.com/2012/08/no-th.... http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/sweetp....