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CATACANTHUS PUNCTUS
IXORA SHIELD BUG ( Man-faced Stink Bug )

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Classification

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Heteroptera

Infraorder: Pentatomomorpha

Superfamily: Pentatomoidea

Family: Pentatomidae

Subfamily: Pentatominae

Tribe: Catacanthini

Genus: Catacanthus

Species: C. Punctus

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Phylogenetic systems of
Mantodea (Dictyoptera)

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CATACANTHUS PUNCTUS

Catacanthus punctus is an Australian species of shield bug. It was described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1787.

Catacanthus is a genus of insects within the family Pentatomidae.

Distribution: Africa (Madagascar), South and Southeast Asia, Oceania. It is recorded from New Caledonia, and Papua New Guinea.

Hosts: Cashew, ornamentals (e.g., Ixora), and forest trees e.g., Gmelina arborea, Delonix regia (royal poinciana) and Olea (olive) and Glochidion species

Symptoms & Life Cycle:The adults and nymphs do the damage by sucking the sap of young shoots, damaging leaves and causing fruits to rot from secondary invasions of microorganisms.

Eggs are laid in large numbers on leaves, and hatch to black and white wingless nymphs. Adult colour is variable. There are four types: cream, orange, red and yellow, each with two pairs of large black spots on the top of the bug: one pair is on the triangular area behind the head (scutellum); and the other pair on the forewings. Dark,patches also occur at the tips of the forewings. It is thought that these bold colours send a signal to potential predators that the bug is poisonous, not tasty, or perhaps they just mislead predators.

Stink buds produce an aggregate pheromone that results in the bugs massing together. In India, large number occur on Ixora, and there are reports of 400-500 bugs on a branch of Delonix regia, and 300 on a single cashew tree.

Many stink bugs and shield bugs are considered agricultural pest insects, because they can create large populations which feed on crops (damaging production), and they are resistant to many pesticides. They are a threat to cotton, corn, sorghum, soybeans, native and ornamental trees, shrubs, vines, weeds, and many cultivated crops. However, some genera of Pentatomidae are considered highly beneficial: the anchor bug, which can be distinguished by the red-orange anchor shape on the adult, is one example. It is a predator of other insects, especially Mexican bean beetles, Japanese beetles, and other pest insects.


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