brown and orange predatory stink bug

(Apoecilus cynicus)

Conservation Status
brown and orange predatory stink bug
Photo by Molly and Robert Power
  IUCN Red List

not listed

 
  NatureServe

not listed

 
  Minnesota

not listed

 
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Brown and orange predatory stink bug is the unimaginative common name for this large predatory stink bug. The species occurs in the United States and Canada. Based on the number of reported sightings, it is uncommon throughout its range, including in Minnesota. It is found on trees, shrubs, forbs, and grasses, mostly at woodland edges. It preys on caterpillars.

Adults are ½ to ¾ (13 to 20 mm) in length. The body is broadly oval, and somewhat shield-shaped, appearing broad-shouldered. It is orangish-yellow or orange (pale) with light or heavy brown (dark) speckling.

The sides of the head are nearly parallel. There are two large, bulging, compound eyes and two simple eyes (ocelli). The front of the head is divided into a central lobe (tylus) and two lateral lobes (juga). The juga are slightly longer than the tylus. The beak-like projection of the head (rostrum) is long, very thick, and has four segments. The first segment is thickened and free, enabling it to be swung fully forward. At the base of the rostrum there is a pair of raised plates (buccula). The bucculae are very short and cover only the base of the first segment of the rostrum. The antennae are pale and have five segments. The basal segment is very short, not reaching beyond the front of the head. The third segment is as long or almost as long as the fifth segment. All segments are densely covered with fine hairs.

The thorax is twice as wide as long. The exoskeletal plate covering the thorax (pronotum) projects outward into an acute point in the shoulder (humeral) areas. There are two small black spots on each side just behind the head. The plate between the wing bases (scutellum) is large and broadly triangular at the base and has a U-shaped lobe at the tip. The lobe does not reach the tip of the abdomen.

There are two pairs of wings, and they are held flat over the body when at rest. The forewings (hemelytra) are as long as the abdomen but do not completely cover the sides of the abdomen. The exposed sides are pale with six pairs of black spots. They appear conspicuously striped when the wings are closed. The hemelytra have a thickened, leathery section at the base and a thin membranous section at the tip with a clear dividing line between the two. The thickened basal part is comprised of a narrow area (clavus) behind the scutellum when the wings are closed, and the remaining broad marginal area (corium). The lobe at the apex of the scutellum is much narrower than the corium. The head, pronotum, scutellum, clavus, and corium are pale with dark speckling, and are coarsely and irregularly pitted (punctured). The hindwings are thin, membranous, and concealed under the forewings.

The legs are pale.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

½ to ¾ (13 to 20 mm) in length

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat
 
 

 

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Season

 
 

One generation per year: Early July to late September

 
     
 

Behavior

 
 

 

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

The female lays a mass of about 45 eggs in late Autumn. The eggs overwinter. Nymphs emerge the following year in mid-April to mid-May.

 
     
 

Larva Food

 
 

Caterpillars

 
     
 

Adult Food

 
 

Caterpillars

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

24, 27, 29, 30, 82, 83.

 
  7/26/2022      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Uncommon

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
 

Order

Hemiptera (true bugs, hoppers, aphids, and allies)  
 

Suborder

Heteroptera (true bugs)  
 

Infraorder

Pentatomomorpha (pentatomomorph bugs)  
 

Superfamily

Pentatomoidea (stink bugs, shield bugs, and allies)  
 

Family

Pentatomidae (stink bugs)  
 

Subfamily

Asopinae (predatory stink bugs)  
 

Genus

Apoecilus  
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Apateticus cynicus

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

brown and orange predatory stink bug

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Corium

The thickened basal portion of the front wing that lies between the clavus and the membrane of insects in the family Hemiptera. Plural: coria.

 

Hemelytron

The forewing of true bugs (Order Hemiptera), thickened at the base and membranous at the tip. Plural: hemelytra.

 

Ocellus

Simple eye; an eye with a single lens. Plural: ocelli.

 

Pronotum

The exoskeletal plate on the upper side of the first segment of the thorax of an insect.

 

Rostrum

The stiff, beak-like projection of the carapace or prolongation of the head of an insect, crustacean, or cetacean.

 

Scutellum

The exoskeletal plate covering the rearward (posterior) part of the middle segment of the thorax in some insects. In Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Homoptera, the dorsal, often triangular plate behind the pronotum and between the bases of the front wings. In Diptera, the exoskeletal plate between the abdomen and the thorax.

 

 

 

 

 
 
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Molly and Robert Power

 
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  Molly and Robert Power
7/2/2022

Location: Albany, MN

brown and orange predatory stink bug  
           
 
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Created: 7/26/2022

Last Updated:

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