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Dindymus versicolor
A strikingly colourful bug about 20mm long with a black head and deep red eyes. The pronotum is scarlet and the dorsal side of the body graded shades of rosy-red and orange. The lower part of the abdomen and the wing buds are black. There are 3 to 4 raised circular knobs along the the midline of the back of the abdomen. The ventral side appeared to be striped black and white. The antennae have a white band on the last segment.
New Zealand Mirror Bush ( Coprosma repens)
The Coprosma bush had several of these nymphs but they seemed to be aware of any strange movement around them and promptly hid under a leaf. They appear to be the fifth instar of the harlequin bug and are placed in the superfamily: Pyrrhocoroidea. Some websites refer to them as the nymphs of firebugs.
Spotted on Jan 20, 2012
Submitted on Jan 20, 2012
1 Comment
Nice shot leuba. Agreed its the final nymph stage as the wing buds have appeared. I have lots of these.