Topic: What's this icky looking insect

[bestofour]

[bayou girl]

i don't know but it looks like a relative of the ant... have you gone to bug net to look for it?

[sunsoaker]

Looks like some type of beetle to me.

[Dianna]

It's a bug...

[Jim]

What/where are you seeing it?

[landofoz]

Personally, I think it's cute!!

Is it maybe Saxinis saucia

Oh! Oh!  It's this: Euthyrhynchus floridanus

[bayou girl]

good job sarah loo!

[Tina]

Awesome!

[bestofour]

They're all over one of my flower pots.  They are cute but I don't like them.

[bestofour]

So Barb has sent me a stink bug from Florida.  Well!   I can take a hint.

[bestofour]

Well I'm not so sure because this article says they have 3 spots on their backs.

Big Stink Bug is a Predator of Plant Pests
Euthyrhynchus floridanus is a stink bug that feeds on other plant pests. It is one of the more attractive stink bugs with three orange spots on a dark, metallic blue background. These insects overwinter as adults probably in some dry, sheltered location. Eggs are laid the following spring. The eggs hatch 19 to 33 days later. Nymphs of Euthyrhynchus floridanus take a long time to develop through five stages (40 to 67 days). New adult females wait 5 or 6 days before mating and the eggs are laid 23 to 67 days later. Total developmental time for this species is much longer than for plant-feeding stink bugs. Immature Euthyrhynchus floridanus are highly aggregated and even attack larger prey in concert. Apparently, aggregation behavior allows them to successfully attack prey too large to be subdued by a single nymph. Sometimes the adults aggregate with nymphs, although when times get hard these bugs sometimes feed on smaller individuals. When the bugs jab their prey with their proboscis, they inject a toxin that slowly immobilizes the prey. Euthyrhynchus floridanus bugs have an unusual wagging behavior in which the bug rocks its body from side to side while it grips the substrate firmly with its feet. This is thought to be a defensive behavior. Many of these predaceous stink bugs feed on plant tissue when insect prey is not available. Plant feeding is not reported for Euthyrhynchus floridanus, but if such feeding does occur the plant damage must be slight and is certainly outweighed by their beneficial role in controlling plant-feeding pests.

[bestofour]

If you look at Sarah's picture closely you can see the 3 different spots but on mine it looks like 1 spot.

[Jim]

Sure looks like the link that Sarahloo posted.  Sheri, your photo is a bit out of focus so that may hide some of the detail that the BugGuide photo shows.

[sunsoaker]

I'm pretty sure its the bugs I sent ya.    (i.e. the link Sarah posted).

[bestofour]

It probably is so I won't worry.   I'm glad I've got something beneficial for a change.   Thanks Barb.