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Stiretrus anchorago personatus
This really beautiful Stink Bug had a newly hatched baby with her. The baby followed her and eventually began to feed from her abdomen. I suspect this might happen frequently: that the mother would let her offspring gain a head start on life by allowing them to feed on her. This may be one origin of the few Pentatomidae (including this one) that are actually predatory. Her abdomen was already extended with eggs. I have never seen this species before. Family Pentatomidae.
Forest, Chorreadero Park, Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, Mexico.
See the publication by Torsten van der Heyden of this interesting behavior: NOTE: An interesting observation: A nymph feeding on an adult female of Stiretrus anchorago (Fabricius, 1775) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae: Asopinae). Torsten van der Heyden. 2016. ARQUIVOS ENTOMOLÓXICOS, 15: 167-169. (www.aegaweb.com/arquivos_entomoloxicos)
Thank you Torsten! Great article! I´ve added the correct name and your reference :) Saludos!
Hola Lauren, ayer te he enviado un correo con un PDF adjunto ;-).
Supongo que puedes poner el nombre científico de la especie.
Saludos,
Torsten
That's right, Dominik - the variation in different species of Stiretrus is well known and documented. BUT: S. anchorago is the ONLY species distributed in/reported for North and Central America...
Stiretrus anchorago is definitely a candidate, but obviously also VERY variable in the markings. Until now I did not dare to call mine S. anchorago.
Stiretrus anchorago is the only species of the genus Stiretrus distributed in Mexico.
Thank you bayucca and Torsten, it makes sense that it is a predatory species with the nymph acting this way. Yes Torsten, I will be happy to send you the pictures! :)
Stiretrus sp. makes sense to me. ID of the species is somewhat difficult because of the variation/different morphs...
Pentatomidae, Asopinae, Predatory Stink Bug. I have probably the same one and still no safe clue for this one. For me it still looks like a Stiretrus sp., but I did not have find any definite species yet.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dominikhof...
Spotted on Aug 22, 2015
Submitted on Feb 19, 2016
