peanut burrowing bug

Peanut burrowing bug, also called two-lined burrowing bug, is a small, common but seldom seen true bug. It occurs in North America and Central America. In the United States it occurs from Maine to Florida, west to Minnesota and southern California.

Adults and nymphs feed on a variety of species and tissue types (polyphagous). They are a serious economic pest for farmers in the southern United States. They have been reported feeding on several crops, including peanut seeds, cotton seedlings, newly sprouted wheat, pepper seeds, spinach seedlings, and strawberry fruit. They are difficult to detect in the field because they spend most of their lives in the soil.

The body is broadly oval, widest beyond the middle, and 3⁄16″ to 5⁄16″ (5.3 to 7.8 mm) in length. When it first emerges above ground, a young adult is light brown in color. As it ages it gradually darkens. Mature adults are black, shiny, hairless, and densely dotted with small pits (punctate).

The head is small, wider than long, and much narrower than the thorax. It is tucked into a concave groove in the margin of the pronotum. It is not strongly convex, and the surface is not strongly wrinkled (rugose). There is no visible “neck” when viewed from above. There are two large, bulging, compound eyes and two small simple eyes (ocelli). The mouth parts are optimized for piercing and sucking. The antennae are black to brownish-yellow and have five segments.

The exoskeletal plate covering the thorax (pronotum) is slightly more than half as long as it is wide. It is entirely black. The front lateral margins have a submarginal row of fine punctures. The sharply impressed transverse groove near the middle, present on most Pangaeus species, is poorly developed or absent. It is sometimes represented by a row of distinct punctures, but those too may be absent.

There are two pairs of wings, and they are held flat over the body when at rest. Between the wing bases there is a triangular plate (scutellum). The forewings (hemelytra) are as long as the abdomen and completely cover the sides of the abdomen. They have a thickened 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 scutellum is triangular and large. It covers about half of the abdomen, but is not longer than the corium, and does not reach the tip of the abdomen. The clavi do not meet behind the scutellum. The corium is leathery brown. The membranous section extends beyond the tip of the abdomen. The hindwings are thin, membranous, and completely concealed beneath the forewings.

The legs are moderately long and mostly black. The fourth segment (tibia) on the hind legs is armed with three rows of strong spines. The last part of each leg (tarsus), corresponding to the foot, is brownish-yellow and has three segments. The second segment is shorter and thinner than the first and third segments. On the front pair of legs, the tarsus arises at the tip of the tibia.

Total length: 3⁄16″ to 5⁄16″ (5.3 to 7.8 mm)

April to September in the north. At least three generations per year in the south.

Adults overwinter 6″ to 8″ (15 to 20 cm) deep in the soil. Eggs are laid in the soil. Larvae pass through five stages (instars) before emerging (eclosing) as an adult. Newly molted adults remain in the soil until their exoskeleton hardens.

A wide variety of plants

A wide variety of plants

Sources

29, 30, 82, 83.

This species was originally described as Cydnus bilineatus in 1824. In 1862 it was moved to the genus Pangaeus.

Pangaeus bilineatus Say, 1825
VENANATURALE

Location: Lancaster Bible College, Lancaster PA