Sweet Potato Bug

Description:

Physomerus grossipes Fabricius, 1794. A few of these Sweet Potato Bugs were spotted, in our vegetable plot, yesterday morning (Pics #1 and #2) and, today, as expected, there were very many more (Pics #3, #4 and #5). This bug can be a serious pest and an infestation can destroy an entire crop very quickly.

Habitat:

These Sweet Potato Bugs were spotted in our backyard on the leaves and stems of Sweet Potato Vines (Ipomoea batatas) known in the Philippines, in all dialects, as Kamote. The Kamote is a spreading, prostrate vine which, if allowed to develop freely, will eventually take over the entire backyard. To avoid this problem, our Kamote vines are given the opportunity to climb on a bamboo trellis, which they do very well. This avoids the problem of uncontrolled spreading, but the Sweet Potato Bugs seem to like it, either way. vertical or horizontal. Plant information from - http://www.stuartxchange.org/Kamote.html...