Anchor Stink Bug (Stiretrus anchorago).
Found in Central and mostly eastern North America. This is a good guy of the stink bug world, feeding on beetle larvae and caterpillars, including many agricultural and gardening pests such as the Mexican Bean Beetle and the Japanese Beetle.
There’s incredible variation in the coloring of the Anchor Stink Bug but rather than having a triangular scutellum, these bugs have a U-shaped scutellum.
An interesting creature to see and find information about.
2 responses to “Anchor Stink Bug”
I became so intrigued by this scutellum that I just had to know what a scutellum was and as a service to our fellow ORMN members and many Tendril readers who are on edge about this issue I leave you with the following description. “The scutellum is the posterior portion of either the mesonotum or the metanotum of an insect thorax; however, it is used almost exclusively in the former context, as the metanotum is rather reduced in most insect groups. In the Hemiptera, and some Coleoptera, the scutellum is a small triangular plate behind the pronotum and between the forewing bases. In Diptera and Hymenoptera the scutellum is nearly always distinct, but much smaller than the mesoscutum.” So dear readers, now we know.
Hahahaha! Thanks dear Ken. I knew that, and surely you did too! I appreciate so much your kind clarification for anyone that didn’t!
Thanks bunches for reading my posts, and helping me along the way! 🙂
Bren