Nature does the work in taking the photos for us
A lot of times, nature does the work in taking the photos for us here at Wild Boyz Photography. This photo was taken while walking around in my front yard, looking at cicada molts, when suddenly I saw this green stink bug nymph crawling along the same tree. The scientific name for this insect is Chinavia hilaris. Its other common name is green soldier bug.
Green stink bugs typically exhibit a bright green color with yellow, orange, or reddish edges to their bodies. It is a shield-shaped bug with a long oval shape that grows to be about 13-18 mm. As you can see, that's not what is visible in this photo, as this is an earlier nymph stage of the green stink bug. As you can see in this Instar, it still has an elongated oval-shaped body. The color is more variable with yellow-green on its body, with black false wings on the back.
The United States considers the green stink bug a pest of economic importance. The crop that it was likely feeding on near me was the soybeans that are often planted around our county. They damage crops with their feeding stylet, which is a hard, sharp, anatomical structure in some invertebrates. For soybeans, the feeding stylet causes green stem syndrome.
The green stink bug can be found throughout North America, from New England to Florida, and to the west to the 98th degree west longitudinal line. They are only occasionally found west of this line from San Diego to Seattle. For your best chance of seeing this species, head to orchards, gardens, woodlands, and crop fields. They'll likely be eating and damaging many of the crops in the area. They are known to feed on tomatoes, beans, peas, cotton, soybeans, and eggplants. The nymphs will also feed on apple, cherry, orange, and peach trees.
The United States considers the green stink bug a pest of economic importance
Did you know?
- There are parasitic wasps that prey on this species of stink bug.
- The same pheromone that is used in the green stink bug's communication system can be used to attract them away from crop fields.
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