![]() ![]() Most of the nymphs in this aggregation are later stage instars with short wing buds, mainly bright metallic blue or green with bright red or orange patches. Like many True Bugs, the Hibiscus Harlequin Bug often form large aggregations, especially while nymphs, as a protective ‘safety in numbers’ strategy. In more temperate areas females have larger metallic blue patches and males are mostly blue-green with small red-orange patches. The males are red with many more metallic blue patches and the nymphs are the most variable, with every stage looking quite different. ![]() In the subtropics, the larger female adults are orange with a few metallic blue patches. The pattern variation between individuals of this species, and with latitude, is remarkable. Like many insects the different stages and sexes look a little different, but the Hibiscus Harlequin Bug takes this to the extreme. Yes, the mother will sit over the eggs, protecting them from predators and parasites, until they hatch! This feature places Harlequin Bugs into the Family Scutelleridae, Jewel Bugs – a group with unusual but well recorded maternal care. Their two pairs of wings are folded underneath when they are at rest. These are unusual True Bugs in that the adults look a bit like beetles because part of their thorax, the scutellum, is greatly expanded and covers the entire abdomen. Unusually, we can identify these nymphs as they are the commonly seen Hibiscus Harlequin Bug or Cotton Harlequin Bug, Tectocoris diophthalmus, the only member of the genus Tectocoris. If you turned one over and looked at the head you might see the proboscis – a long, thin, straight feeding tube lying down between the legs – that makes these ‘True Bugs’ belonging to the Order Hemiptera. Not all insects are ‘bugs’ but these are. These images show an aggregation of nymphal True Bugs. By Dr Christine Lambkin, Queensland Museum Entomologist ![]()
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