Green Vegetable Bug

Description:

Nezara viridula (Linnaeus, 1775) "The adult males can reach a body length (from front to elytral apex) of about 12.1 millimetres (0.48 in), while females are bigger, reaching a size of about 13.1 millimetres (0.52 in). The body is usually bright green and shield-shaped and the eyes are usually reddish, but they may also be black. There is a row of three white spots on the scutellum." Wikipedia.

Habitat:

Spotted these Green Vegetable Bugs on String Beans (Vigna unguiculata) in our vegetable plot. When I spotted the egg raft, I almost cut the leaf off, to remove the threat of infestation from our crop but my wife, who plants all of our vegetables, indicated that she didn't mind if I left them there and let nature take its course. She had previous experience of these infestations and knew that some of the crop would be damaged, but not all and this was not commercial farming - just vegetables for our own use. As it turned out, very little damage was done.

Notes:

It was my intention to observe the development from eggs all the way through the various instars until there were some adult specimens. I wanted to record the entire life cycle in my own personal catalogue. Of course nothing is ever as easy as we would like and I completely missed the 1st instar, but I did get pictures of 2nd., 3rd., 4th. and 5th. instars as well as some adults. Of course, there is insufficient space for all of these pictures, but I picked out some that I like and here they are.