Red Cotton Stainer Bug (Dysdercus cingulatus): Scientific Classification, Habit and Habitat, Food Habit, Identifying Characters

 

Red Cotton Stainer Bug (Dysdercus cingulatus): Scientific Classification, Habit and Habitat, Food Habit, Identifying Characters

Scientific Classification

Kingdom:  Animalia

Phylum:     Arthropoda

Class:         Insecta

Order:          Hemiptera

Family:        Pyrrhocoridae

Genus:        Dysdercus

Species:      Cingulatum

Habit and Habitat:  The Cotton Stainer Bug seen in large numbers when the cotton is fruiting. Both adults and nymphs are often found in groups under the leaves or among the bolls of cotton plants.

Food Habit: Feeds on the sap of host plants.  Mouth type: Piercing and sucking.

Host plants:

Chorisia speciosa (silk floss tree) , Hibiscus spp., Thespesia populnea (portia tree), Abutilon indicum, Abelmoschus esculentus (okra), Corchorus (jutes), Gossypium (cotton), Zea mays (maize), Ceib pentandra (kapok).

Identifying Characters

1. Body is Reddish with white bands on the abdomen and black markings on forewing.
2. Ocelli lacking.
3. Metathoracic scent-gland openings reduced.

     References:

•   TRUE BUGS OF THE WORLD (Hemiptera: Heteroptera)CLASSIFICATION AND NATURAL HISTORY BY- Randall T. Schuh  and James A. Slater
•    https://www.plantwise.org/knowledgebank/datasheet/20225