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Project Noah Nature School
Leptoglossus zonatus
This Leaf-footed bug landed next to me for a few seconds and was gone. About 3 cm long. It has two large yellow spots on the front of the thorax that look like eyes. Family Coreidae. I was back in the same place on the 20th of August and found these two nymphs on a bush. Once the adult was identified and I was looking through pictures of the species, I realized I also has the nymphs. They even have the beginnings of the expanded leaf phalange on the hind tibiae.
Heavy shrubbery along the highway between San Cristobal de Las Casas and Tuxtla Gutierrez, km 11.5, 865 meters.
The two yellow "eye-spots" on the front of the pronotum are characteristic of the species and can range from almost white to orange. This species has a large distribution from the southern U.S. down through Mexico and Central and South America. It is often a pest on fruit and nut trees and is known to transmit both a plant pathogen and a yeast.
Hey Aaron! Thanks to your identification, I was looking through pictures of the species and realized I had found the nymphs in the same place 8 days after finding the adult! Thanks! It is great to have them together.
Spotted on Aug 12, 2013
Submitted on Sep 1, 2013
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