Citrus Stink Bug

Description:

Pentatomidae; Pentatominae; Rhynchocorini; Rhynchocoris longirostris Stål, 1871. I have recently uploaded three spottings of R. longirostris - https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/16..., https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/22... and https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/30... and when I was collating my pictures and trying to research on the internet in preparation for uploading, it became apparent that there is very little information available. It was disappointing because this insect is undoubtedly a significant part of our environment and it is, as we all know, endemic in Philippines. It would be foolish for me to attempt a lengthy narrative with lots of detailed information here, because that is not the purpose of Project Noah (and the information seems hard to come by), but maybe a short "introduction" to this bug would be appropriate. So, as to my pictures. No.1 shows first instar nymphs, fourteen of them. (I have seen eggs like this on our trees over the years and there are always fourteen). No.2 shows fourteen second instars. So far so good, but now things become less certain. I have never seen verifiable images of the other instars. So I am willing to accept some correction here, if necessary. No.3 I think is a third instar. For No. 4 and No. 5, I am pretty much guessing fourth and fifth instars. No. 6 Is of course an imago (adult). So there it is, I can't do much more in the space available (and truthfully I don't know much more), but its a start and if anyone wants to start a conversation about this bug, I would be pleased.

Habitat:

All of the Citrus Stink Bugs shown here were spotted on trees in our front garden. We have four mature, fruit bearing citrus trees in the garden and the bugs in my pictures came from different trees at different times, but all from the one habitat - our front garden.

Notes:

I know that pictures uploaded to Project Noah are required to be all of the same spotting, at the same time and place etc., but that would be impossible in this case as I am trying to present a general picture of the life cycle of the Citrus Stink Bug (in as much as that is possible here) rather than just display one moment in its existence. So I hope a little latitude may be allowed for this purpose.