COMMON NAMES: stink bug, green stink bug

SCIENTIFIC NAME: order heteroptera, family pentatomidae, acrosternum hilare

SIZE:  Adult--1/2" to 5/8"

IDENTIFICATION: adult bugs are shield-shaped and brown, gray, or green. Some have brightly colored markings. Nymphs are similar, but smaller and wingless. Eggs are barrel-shaped.

BIO: adults overwinter in debris or weeds and emerge in the spring to lay 300 to 500 eggs in clusters on undersides of leaves. Eggs hatch in about a week, and nymphs develop into adults in five weeks. Usually two or more generations a year.

HABITAT: beans, peas, cabbage, corn, okra, squash, tomatoes, peach, cotton, soybeans, alfalfa, peaches, citrus, ornamental plants, forage crops, and weeds.

FEEDING HABITS: adults and nymphs suck juice from flowers, fruit, seed and leaves. Leaves wilt, turn brown, or have discolored spots. Fruit is scarred and sometimes "cat-faced." pods sometimes drop, and seed can be deformed. Although most are sapsuckers, several species suck the blood of caterpillars, beetles, and other pests.

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE: cosmetic and sometimes serious damage to food crops and ornamental plants.

NATURAL CONTROL: parasitic wasps and tachinid flies.

ORGANIC CONTROL: hand-pick the bugs and crush the eggs; spray organic pesticides as a last resort. Use plant oil sprays for heavy infestations. INSIGHT: all hemiptera insects have stink glands. The spined soldier bug podisus maculiventris is an important natural enemy of the mexican bean beetle.