December 31, 2019

2019 Pentatomidae Year in Review

This is mostly for my own records, but it anyone wants to look through it, knock yourselves out. The plan is to list out the species I encountered this year and a little summary about each. In total, I think I ended up with about 51 species. I went out on a limb with a few of these species (in particular the ones from Costa Rica) but it should be reasonably accurate. I only attached a single overview picture for most of these and many of the identifying features are absent in this post, but present in the other photos that I took of the specimens.

Get ready to see lots of my gross fingernails.

Many thanks to all of the people that have so graciously answered my constant questions and helped to steer my curiosity with these guys, especially DB Thomas, Joe Eger, David Rider.

Asopinae
This subfamily includes all of the predatory stink bugs! My favorites.

Apateticus marginiventris

Maybe the species I was most excited about this year. I found 4 different individuals in the Organ Mountains of NM this year. I came across an adult in early June that I thought was Chlorochroa ligata until I turned it over and saw the predatory mouthparts. I also came across a 4th instar and a 5th instar that were in an apache plume plant that had a large population of Chrysomelid beetles. The last one was a 5th instar nymph that I found in late July.

Perillus bioculatus

Such a cool species. I found this beauty when I was digging at the bases of some plants that had a serious leaf beetle infestation going on. Was lucky enough to find this one that was there to feed on them.

Podisus maculiventris

The "Spined Soldier Bug" was the stink bug that got me interested in stink bugs. I had 10 observations of the species this year. These observations were split between two sites. The first was out in Grant County, NM at the beginning of July when Bri and I were hiking through a stream. There was a nice population feeding on beetle larvae in a tree overhanging the stream. The second site was in September when I set out a blacklight at an AirBnB we were staying at in the lower ninth ward in New Orleans.

Podisus serieventris

I ran into this predatory species once this year. I found a nymph down at Eagle Hurst Ranch near Steelville, MO and reared it to adulthood.

Stiretrus anchorago

Finally saw my first "Anchor Stink Bugs" this year! They are most present further southeast, but I saw a couple of them in southern MO this summer, including the nymph pictured above.

Tylospilus acutissimus

One of the perks of living in the southwest is the opportunity to see these awesome predatory stink bugs. I found one in the Organ Mountains this year.

Zicrona americana

This was the Asopine that I ran into most frequently, with 11 observations this year. I only saw it a couple of times, but I found sizable populations when I came across it. They corresponded with large populations of leaf beetles that had similar coloring.

Edessinae





I believe this subfamily is under revision right now and I'm not sure whether these can be identified to species. These three were all from our honeymoon in Costa Rica, and I think I ran into three species out there.

Pentatominae

Agonoscelis puberula

I saw about 15 or 20 of the "African Cluster Bug" this year, all from Oracle State Park in AZ. They were all over the horehound and came to the lights as night fell. These guys are an invasive species and seem to be present in great numbers in a lot of spots. I kept an eye out for them, but never ran into them in NM, but I'm sure they were present.

Bagrada hilaris

Another invasive, I ran into the Bagrada Bug in a few different spots around Las Cruces, NM during June and July.

Banasa dimidiata

The "Green Burgundy Stink Bug" is common throughout a lot of the US. I found this one on cactus in the Organ Mountains. This one may actually be another B. subcarnea though- that species is more common in the SW mountains and it's tough for me to separate the two very well from photos.

Banasa euchlora

They aren't uncommon, but I hadn't actually run into any of these before. The Juniper Stink Bug, as the name suggests, can be found pretty much anywhere that its host plant grows. I found a few at my blacklights at Double E Ranch in Grant County, NM.

Banasa subcarnea

I beat one nymph of this species out of an oak tree in Cloudcroft, NM this August and reared it to adulthood. This species is common in the mountains of some of our Southwestern states.

Banasa sp.(maybe lenticularis)

I'm not sure on this one. I saw a couple of these out at the lights in Costa Rica though.

Brochymena parva

I ended the year with 11 observations of this species and it was by far my most commonly encountered Brochymena species. I found a nice population hanging out around some neglected trees that had been set up in the desert behind our place in Las Cruces, NM. I also found one out in AZ. They have great camouflage when they stay on the trees.

Brochymena sulcata

These guys are tough to tell apart from B. parva, but they're usually a bit larger. I found them a few times on one of the trees in our backyard in Las Cruces, NM. I also found one in AZ.

Chinavia hilaris

I ended up with 8 observations of our common "Green Stink Bug" this year. I never ran into them in NM, but I ran into several nymphs at Bonnie View Park in Columbia, MO, an adult at Eagle Hurst Ranch near Steelville, MO, and a couple of adults down at the Texas City Prairie Preserve in Galveston, TX.

Chlorochroa ligata

I recorded 42 observations of "The Conchuela Bug" during 2019, but I saw significantly more than that. There was a massive explosion of this species and its congener Chlorochroa sayi in the desert behind the place we lived in Las Cruces, NM during the month of July. I must have seen hundreds all over the locust and mesquite back there. I only ran into them in NM this year, but they are common throughout much of the western US.

Chlorochroa saucia

This may be the species I was most excited about finding this year. Bri and I drove from New Orleans out to Galveston, TX partly so that I could go out to the Texas City Prairie Preserve to look for this species which I had seen pop up a few times on iNaturalist. The trip did not disappoint as I finally lucked out around 2 am while blacklighting and got to see this awesome bug. There were a few historical records of the species from TX in the 70's, but it hadn't been seen in the state (as far as I could tell) until within the last few years, so it was awesome to get to go see this neat species for myself. They specialize in costal marshes, which are a threatened habitat, so efforts like that of the preserve are integral to keeping this species around.

Chlorochroa sayi

Like I said above, I saw a ton of "Say's Stink Bug" during July in the desert behind my house in Las Cruces, NM. I recorded 40 observations of the species. I only ran into them in NM this year and found them on locust and at my porch and blacklights I had set up in my backyard.

Chlorochroa senilis

It's not quite as uncommon as its close relative C. saucia but seeing this coastal marsh specialist at the Texas City Prairie Preserve in September was a thrill.

Dendrocoris contaminatus

The second member of this genus I have seen, although the only member that I came across this year. This particular species is a creosote specialist. They're tough to see on the plant, but if you use a beating sheet, they can be found pretty easily. I found 4 this year. Some were in the Organ Mountains and some were in the desert behind our place in Las Cruces, but all were in that little part of NM.

Euschistus biformis

I ran into a few individuals of this species during a hike in late July in the Organ Mountains.

Euschistus crassus

In the US, you can really only hope to find this species in the Gulf Coast states, and south Texas seems to be about the best bet. I was lucky enough to get to see this one at the Texas City Prairie Preserve in September.

Euschistus ictericus

The spines on this make it pretty recognizable among the US Euschistus species. They can be found along much of the Gulf Coast. I got to see one at the Texas City Prairie Preserve in September at the blacklights.

Euschistus inflatus

This species seems to replace the similar servus in much of the western US. I ran into a couple this year in NM.

Euschistus obscurus

I saw a few members of this gulf coast species when I went out to the Texas City Prairie Preserve to blacklight in mid-September.

Euschistus servus

I ran into our common "Brown Stink Bug" 6 times this year in MO and TX.

Euschistus strenuus

A smaller member of the genus that you'll only run into in the SW as far as the US goes. I found one in the Organ Mountains at the end of July. I had a lot of trouble with the key for this one- could see it being E. egglestoni too, but Vassili voted for strenuus.

Euschistus tristigmus

The "Dusky Stink Bug" is pretty common through much of the US. I ran into one when I set up blacklights in the backyard of an AirBnB in the lower 9th ward of New Orleans.

Euschistus variolarius

I ran into one member of this species when I was in Columbia, MO during June.

Holcostethus abbreviatus

I recorded this species five times between June and July in the Organ Mountains near Las Cruces, NM. I also found a few Holcostethus nymphs that could be this species or the one that follows.

Holcostethus limbolarious

I ran into this species the same number of times that I ran into H. abbreviatus and like that species, all of my observations of the species were in the Organ Mountains (NM). I found them from Mid-July into early-August.

Hymenarcys crassa

I was lucky enough to find a pair of this uncommon species at the end of July in the Organ Mountains.

Loxa virescens

I saw a couple of species of Loxa while Bri and I were on our honeymoon in Drake Bay, Costa Rica. This one showed up to the porch lights one night.

Loxa viridis

The other species that I saw in Drake Bay. Really impressive pronotal spines. I think that I saw a couple of these.

Mecidea sp.

The "Narrow Stink Bugs" are difficult to ID to species without examining the genitalia. I ran into them in AZ and NM this year. They're a pretty common group to find in the SW though. Sweeping mature grasses can result in a great number of them.

Menecles insertus

The "Elf Shoe Stink Bug" was one I only saw once, although they aren't too uncommon. I saw a good number of them one night out at Eagle Hurst Ranch near Steelville, MO when Peter and I did a little night exploring. Lots of them hanging on the tree trunks near the river.

Mormidea lugens

I used to run into these all the time in MO, but I only ran into a couple in Louisiana this year.

Mormidea sp.

I can't even make a good guess on this one. I saw a few of these while we were on our honeymoon in Costa Rica though. They were very active and quick to take flight, so I had a tough time getting any good shots.

Murgantia histrionica

The "Harlequin Bug" is common in a lot of the country, but I only ran into it in the Organ Mountains during July.

Oebalus pugnax

The "Rice Stink Bug" is another easy one to find when sweeping grasses. They come to lights too. I ran into them in MO, LA, and TX this year and ended up recording 7 observations.

Piezodorus guildinii

The "Red-Banded Stink Bug" is a serious pest of soy in Brazil and can be found in a few of our gulf coast states. I ran into a few of them when I blacklighted out at the Texas City Prairie Preserve in mid-September.

Plautia stali

My first Hawaiian stink bug! This species can't be found in the continental US, but they are on Hawaii and native to Asia.

Proxys punctulatus

When I ran into this species in college it really piqued my interest in stink bugs, so I was happy to see another one when I was out at the Texas City Prairie Preserve this September.

Sibaria englemani

Bri and I ran into 2 adults and a couple of groups of nymphs while we were hiking around the rainforest near our lodge in Tortuguero, Costa Rica. The spines on these are incredible. What a cool species.

Tepa yerma

I found a decent population of nymphs and adults in the saltbush that was in the desert behind our place in Las Cruces. I recorded 8 observations of the species, but probably saw about 20 individuals in total.

Thyanta calceata

I found a single individual of this species during June in Columbia, MO.

Thyanta custator

This was my most commonly recorded species for the year with 58 observations. I saw them in three states (TX, NM, and AZ) during 2019. You can find them throughout most of the US, but they're especially common in the southwestern US, where they compete with Chlorochroa ligata and Chlorochroa sayi for being the most common species (at least in my limited experiences).

Podopinae

Amaurochrous cinctipes

I was thrilled about this one. This was my first member of the subfamily Podopinae, sometimes called the "Turtle Bugs". This subfamily have an enlarged scutellum and specialize in marshy habitats. I saw this one at the Texas City Prairie Preserve in September.

Posted on December 31, 2019 06:00 PM by ameeds ameeds | 1 comment | Leave a comment

September 15, 2019

A Night of Pentatomid Success Blacklighting at the Texas City Prairie Preserve with some fellow iNaturalists

I joined iNaturalist in April of 2018 and have been keeping an eye on the stink bug section since. It's been fascinating to see all of this crowd-sourced data on stink bugs from all over the US in real time and there have been a couple of spots that have really caught my eye.

Over at the Texas City Prairie Preserve, on the southwest shoreline of Galveston Bay, there has been an effort by @scottbuckel and @atjelmeland to catalog the insect life that is showing up to the lights at night. The preserve is an important project by the Nature Conservancy of Texas to preserve a critically threatened habitat. The preserve's Nature Conservancy Listing notes that while coastal prairie habitats used to span over 9 million miles of coastline between TX and LA, less than 1% of that remains today. So, this preserve is dedicated to keeping that habitat protected for the interesting plants and wildlife that utilize those sorts of niches.

As part of that effort, they have been trying to record which species are found at the preserve. Part of that effort has centered on setting up lights at night and recording the insects that show up. Just looking at the stink bug diversity, I was really intrigued as to what was going on over there. They have recorded about 16 different stink bug species, including some that I found particularly interesting.

During July, they had three records of Andrallus spinidens, a predatory stink bug that has a few historical records from Texas, but it's not clear whether or not the species is established.

They've also had consistent observations of Chlorochroa saucia, a specialist of coastal marshes that typically is seen along the Atlantic coast. There was a 1978 record of the species from Galveston, but between the efforts made to catalog the species here at the TCPP and another observation from an area along the bay a bit north of the preserve, it seems clear that the species is established in the coastal marshes of this area as well.

Anyway, my wife and I took a little trip to New Orleans, so instead of flying back, we scheduled a flight out of Houston and drove the six hours out to the Galveston area. Scott and Aaron were incredibly gracious in allowing me to come out to check the lights at the preserve with them and I was not disappointed.

I got to the preserve around 7 and we immediately found a Green Stink Bug (Chinavia hilaris) that was still on the sheet from the last night of blacklighting. It stayed in the same spot almost the entire night. These guys are common throughout most of the US and a familiar sight at porch lights for a lot of folks.

Chinavia hilaris

Once it got dark, the insects slowly started showing up. Among the first to arrive (and one of the more prevalent Pentatomids of the night) were Euschistus servus, our common brown stink bug. This species can be difficult to differentiate from another common stink bug in the same genus, Euschistus tristigmus. You can tell the difference if you flip them over though. Again, this is a common species throughout the states, though it can be a challenge to nail down the ID.

Euschistus servus

Another species that showed up early on and stayed around for a good bit of the evening was Thyanta custator accerra. Like the two previous ones, this Pentatomid has a wide range and can be found throughout the country. These guys are highly variable though and can come in a variety of colors. You can see them from bright green to tan and nearly white. Some have humeral spines and some have fairly smooth shoulders. We had a couple show up that can show off some of the variety of the species.

Thyanta custator accerra

These species were all repeats for me (but still always fun to see) but I was pretty excited when Euschistus ictericus showed up a short time later. This one is a little bit easier to tell from the other members of its genus and has these impressive humeral spines and a ridge that rides across the pronotum between them. It can be found throughout most of the Eastern US and can occasionally make it out as far west as UT. They like damp habitats, so the marshes out here were a good environment for them.

Euschistus ictericus

As things stalled at the lights for a bit, I started checking some of the vegetation nearby and found another Euschistus species that was new to me. Euschistus obscurus can be fairly easy to tell from most of its congeners based on the light bar that runs across the pronotum where the insect almost looks "worn". They're a reasonably common sight in the SE US, especially around parts of TX, but I was happy to get to see one.

Euschistus obscurus

Next to show was Piezodorus guildinii, the Red-Banded Stink Bug. These guys can make it from the SE US into NM but are especially common in the West Indies and Central/South America. This one is of some economic importance as well, as it's a major pest of soybean in Brazil. Still a new one for me though!

Piezodorus guildinii

While I was looking at the first Red-Banded Stink Bug, one of the most aesthetically-pleasing (in my opinion) members of the family showed up. The Black Stink Bug (Proxys punctulatus) is found throughout the Eastern US, as well as in CA. This is one that I had seen once during my undergrad years in Missouri, but I was glad to see it a second time. They're reasonably common, but still always fun to see.

Proxys punctulatus

The first moment of real excitement came when I checked some of the plants near the lights again and noticed a small, dusty bug hanging out on the tip of one of the plants. This one was a member of the genus Amaurochrous, which are part of the subfamily Podopinae and are affectionately referred to as the "Turtle Bugs". They are found in marshy areas and are one of the stranger groups in the Pentatomidae. At times, they've even had their group elevated to family status- they differ from most other Pentatomids in that their scutellum is elongated to the point that you can't see their wing membranes, much like the Scutellerids.

Amaurochrous sp.

As the night went on most of the rest of the bugs were repeats, or the ever-present Oebalus pugnax, the Rice Stink Bug a small Pentatomid that is common throughout the Eastern US and present down into Brazil and the West Indies. They feed on grasses, and as the name suggests can cause issues in rice fields.

Oebalus pugnax

At this point, it was about 1:30, so I was getting tired. I had stuck it out for a while hoping to see Chlorochroa saucia, Chlorochroa senilis, or Euschistus crassus but it seemed like they weren't showing up. I decided to do one last walk through for the lights before calling it a night. When I got back to the sheet, I noticed a large, elongated bug hanging out and knew it had to be Chlorochroa senilis. This one is part of the subgenus Rhytidolomia, which are all fascinating bugs with specialized habitat requirements. Like saucia, senilis is a specialist of coastal marshes and just a super cool, bizarre stink bug.

Chlorochroa senilis

The excitement from that find gave me a little bit of an adrenaline push, so I decided to stick it out for another half-hour or so. I was rewarded when Chlorochroa saucia showed up to almost the exact same spot as its congener. It's interesting to compare the two- when you look at senilis it really almost seems as though someone has just taken saucia and tugged on it until it nearly doubled in length.

Chlorochroa saucia

At this point, I was quite happy with the night and was feeling pretty lucky, so I did one more walkthrough just in case Euschistus crassus had shown up somewhere. The species has been popping up pretty frequently at the preserve and around TX at the time, so I was kind of surprised that it hadn't shown up yet. Luckily, it chose to show up right around 2:30, so I was able to snap some shots of the species (maybe my favorite of the Euschistus) and call it a night.

Euschistus crassus

In all, I counted 12 different species of stink bug. 7 of these were new for me, so that's going to be a tough night to top. A huge, huge thanks to @atjelmeland and @scottbuckel for letting me come out and for showing my wife and me around the preserve the next day (also a huge thanks to my wife for letting me drive us six hours to go look at stink bugs). What a cool little area, I'll definitely be keeping an eye on the stink bug wildlife that pops up around there and encourage other iNaturalists to keep an eye on their Project here on iNaturalist. They have some really impressive species showing up here and are putting in a lot of hard work to maintain this important piece of habitat.

Posted on September 15, 2019 05:36 PM by ameeds ameeds | 23 observations | 3 comments | Leave a comment

August 27, 2019

Rearing Stink Bug Nymphs to Adulthood

While we can recognize the nymphal stages of a few of our more commonly encountered or economically important stink bugs, there just isn't nearly as much attention paid to the nymphal stages, so lots of nymphs go unidentified. The best way to determine the species for any nymph involves photographing that nymph once it has finished out its development and molted to adulthood. This little post will function as a sort of guide to helping people that want to accomplish that.

Disclaimer: I'm not encouraging anyone to remove wildlife from areas where wildlife is protected. Know the rules of the areas you are observing wildlife within. In some areas, you may find that rules about removing insect wildlife are non-existent or vague, but rules about removing plant material are often much more concrete. This can complicate rearing insects from these areas (since you'll generally want to collect host plant material).

Predatory vs Plant-Feeding Stink Bugs

One of my favorite things about stink bugs also can make them an extra challenge to rear. We have an entire subfamily of stink bugs that are predatory on other insects. Bugguide lists that we have 35 predatory species out of about 220 stink bug species in the US (about 16%) and about 6% worldwide. Obviously, rearing these to adulthood requires an entirely different set of guidelines from rearing out the phytophagous ones. Because of this, the first thing we need to do when we find a stink bug that we want to rear to adulthood is to determine whether it is a plant-feeder or an insect-feeder. The easiest way to do this is to flip it over to get a look at its mouthparts.

If you look at the second photo on this observation of a predatory 5th instar Tylospilus acutissimus nymph that I came across, you can see the robust mouthparts that are designed to hold on tightly to prey:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/18611661

Compare that to the last couple of photos of this phytophagous adult Euschistus inflatus where its mouthparts are simply designed for piercing plant tissue that isn't going to fight back:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/28891290

It's always best to try to make this determination in the field because that's going to let you know what food source to collect. But if you aren't sure, you can always flip the insect over to take a photo of the mouthparts and then tag someone like me to see if we have any information about the nymph as you start to try to rear it out.

Collecting Predatory Stink Bugs

Okay, let's say that you have found a nymph and have determined that it is in fact one of the Asopinae (predatory stink bugs). If you look closely, you will probably be able to find the food source that it is hunting. I rarely have ever found Asopine nymphs in the field that were not in close proximity to a population of potential prey. Most of these nymphs are looking for soft-bodied immature larvae of butterflies/moths or beetles. Some stink bug nymphs are happy to eat any soft-bodied insect, but there are some that are quite picky and may only be successfully reared on a few species. Since it's hard to know which insects are picky (especially if you don't know which species you are dealing with at the time), I would spend some time looking closely for the prey so that you can try to capture whatever this nymph was feeding on at the time. Whether this nymph is a generalist or a specialist, the prey that it was in the middle of hunting are probably a safe bet. I would also try to use two containers to gather material:

One container would involve the nymph, some plant material, and one or two prey items. The other would contain plant material and any additional prey that you can find. When contained, it's important to make sure the nymph only has one or two prey insects in with it at any time. I've seen instances where some prey (usually some species of caterpillars) actually turned the tables and fed on the stink bug nymph if their numbers were high enough. You may notice that the stink bug stops eating as it gets swollen and that's normal- it usually means that it is about to molt. It can also be susceptible to attack from some caterpillars during this time though. There are some species that will eat just about anything. That's why having some plant material in with the stink bug can be helpful- it gives the stink bug a way to get away from overzealous prey. You could also put a little piece of paper in the bottom of the container, folded up enough that the stink bug could crawl underneath when it wants to get away (stink bugs like to hide).

At this point, you can skip past the section on rearing phytophagous stink bugs and go to the section on setting up the container below.

Collecting Phytophagous Stink Bugs

Rearing the plant-feeding stink bugs can present some other challenges. Many stink bugs are generalist feeders and you might find them moving between plants. Others are highly specialized on specific plants. My philosophy is to let them make the choice about what they eat. I would definitely gather a good bit of plant material that you find them on. Leaves, seeds, fruits- get a variety of options for the stink bug and then you can pay attention to see what they prefer. I would also recommend capturing photos of the plant so that you can record host plant information and know what to look for if you need to return for more. With younger nymphs, I would gather extra plant material so that some can stay in the fridge to stay fresh longer.

I also like to provide most phytophagous nymphs that I collect with some sort of other food source. Fresh green beans and close relatives can be good options. If I have a species that I am not familiar with or can't find literature about nymphal rearing, I will usually set them up with a large buffet of items. This will usually include whatever I can get my hands on from this list: Green beans, snap peas, baby carrots, shelled peanuts, uncooked rice hulls. Remove food when it starts to get moldy (or before)- interestingly, a lot of times the stink bugs like older green beans even when I put new ones in for them.

The other option with plant-feeding stink bug nymphs would be to close off the plant that they are on without removing them or the plant material. You could use some sort of mesh to make a closed environment for them. I haven't tried this much (since I usually come across stink bugs in areas where I would be unable to get back to them easily) but as long as you can clear the interior of potential natural enemies before tying it off, I would think it should work fairly well.

Setting up the Rearing Container

The most important thing while rearing stink bugs in a closed container is controlling the humidity and keeping the interior fairly clean. I usually give the stink bugs a water source. Usually I use cut-up pieces of sponge. Dental wick works best, but it's quite expensive comparatively. They should be damp, but not saturated. The biggest danger is that this will cause condensation on the inside of a closed container. There are a few ways around this: You could use a container that has plenty of airflow- a screened lid or something along those lines. You could use a container that will absorb some of that moisture- if the container is derived from a paper material (think of a pint-sized ice cream container), it will take care of that issue for you. Or, if you are going the cheap route and using small, closed-off plastic tupperware type containers (like me), you can always put a piece of dry sponge in there to absorb the airborne moisture before it builds up on the inside of the container. This is especially dangerous with smaller nymphs as they can get caught in the water droplets and drown easily.

I would also recommend going through every couple of days and cleaning out the containers/transfer the insect and material to a new container. Stink bugs are messy. Since they can only take liquid food, their waste is also liquid and can quickly make a mess (especially the Asopines).

Linking the photos together

Finally, don't be shy with the camera! Take lots of shots and try to capture as much of the development as you can. Then you can post those life cycles here on iNaturalist and/or up on Bugguide where they can be valuable tools for others!

As far as posting the photos on iNaturalist goes, because each observation can only relate to a single date, the best thing I have found is to post the different stages as separate observations with links to the related observations in the description section. On ones that have been reared in captivity, I would note in the description as well this since development could be somewhat altered from insects in the wild based on temperature/climatic differences. It's a little bit easier on Bugguide where you can simply add each of the photos together and change the date for each photo.

Thanks for reading, and please feel more than free to share your own thoughts!

Questions/Answers

  1. If you find multiple instar stages, do you only take the youngest (smallest), or do you take one of each different instar to ensure they are the same species?

I would say that's kind of up to each individual. If you can be fairly sure that they are the same species, at least photograph as many stages as possible. Personally, I usually collect most of them (more chances for successful rearing if something does go wrong), but if I were to only collect one (while photographing the others), I would take the most developed. It's going to take less time to get it to adulthood, so there's less chance of something going wrong.

  1. What to do with the resulting adults:

I think everyone also has their own personal moral code. Personally, I'm working on building a Pentatomid reference collection, so I often pin and preserve the specimens that I rear out. I suppose the ideal thing would be to release insects back in the location where you found them or areas where you know that species is already present, but I would be careful about releasing insects into other areas. Ecosystems are complicated.

Posted on August 27, 2019 04:02 PM by ameeds ameeds | 6 comments | Leave a comment

Archives

Gracias al apoyo de:

¿Quiere apoyarnos? Pregúntenos cómo escribiendo a snib.guatemala@gmail.com