In addition, preferences for favorite host plants will also lead to aggregation on those host plants.
Adults produce aggregation pheromones that cause them to congregate. In fact, females often remain on or near the first plant they fed on as a newly hatched nymph (English-Loeb and Collier, 1987). Harlequin bugs are often found clustered together rather than randomly dispersed throughout a field. Females mate throughout their lives and lay a mass of about 12 eggs every three days, or up to 164 eggs per female. In the field, adult males may live up to 25 days, while females often live 48 days but can live up to 80 days (Streams and Pimentel, 1963). Under laboratory conditions, males and females live 68 and 82 days, respectively (Streams and Pimentel, 1963). Development time is 30–50 days from egg to adult depending on temperature (Canerday, 1965). Harlequin bug completes two to three generations in the southern states, with five to six immature nymphal stages. (Photo by Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University, .) Biology Harlequin bug adult with significant feeding damage. (Photo by Patricia Monk, New Mexico State University.)įigure 3. Harlequin bug adult with subtle feeding damage. The eggs are set on end generally in two rows of six on the undersides of leaves.įigure 2. Eggs are barrel-shaped and encircled with dark rings, with a dark crescent on top against a white background. Nymphs’ coloration is similar to adults but without wings. Adults and nymphs are vividly colored with deep blue or black and bright orange or red (Figures 2 and 3). Adults are 1/4- to 3/8-inch-long, shield-shaped insects with broad shoulders. It is considered a common pest in the southern United States but is becoming increasingly common in more northern states such as Pennsylvania, where harlequin bug was recently reported as a pest. Harlequin bug originated in Mexico and Central America but was first reported in the United States in Texas in 1864. (Illustration by Darren Huff, New Mexico State University.) Harlequin bug development: eggs (top), nymphs (bottom left), and adult (bottom right). The presence of nymphs, which look similar to adults rather than larvae, indicates that these insects are not beetles.įigure 1. Hemipterans also have incomplete metamorphosis (egg, nymph, and adult stages Figure 1), while beetles have complete metamorphosis (egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages). Hemipteran insects have hemelytra that cover only the upper abdomen. Many people incorrectly refer to them as beetles, but beetles have a hard, protective covering or elytra that completely covers their abdomen. Harlequin bug ( Murgantia histrionica) is entomologically a “true” bug-an insect in the Hemiptera order, which also includes stink bugs and leaf footed bugs. Breen Pierce College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State UniversityĪuthor: Extension Entomologist, Department of Extension Plant Sciences, New Mexico State University.
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