Alice Springs Fauna •
Alice Springs True Bugs (Heteroptera)Eucalyptus Tip-wilting Bug Ground Shield Bug (Choerocoris paganus) Ippatha australiensis Poecilometis patruelis (Shield Bug) Soapberry Bugs, Leptocoris sp Spilostethus sp Water Scorpion
One of the Large Milkweed Bugs, genus Spilostethus (possibly Spilosethus hospes, formerly Lygaeus hospes).
Also commonly known as Lygaeid Bugs, these bugs are quite colourful in bright red/orange or yellow, and black or brown in colours. They have a slight elongated body shape, ocelli (light detecting organs composed of s single lens – “simple eye”). They have a scutellum (a hard plate or scale on the thorax of the insect) with distinct weak-raised Y-shaped mark.
Most Lygaeid Bugs feed on seeds or plant sap and during the breeding season, the adults, together with the different instar stages can be found feeding on the same plant. Pictured here is the adult Lygaeus hospes on the foliage of the sweet potato plant.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Hexapoda
- Class: Insecta
- Informal: Pterygotes
- Order: Hemiptera
- Suborder: Heteroptera
- Infraorder: Pentatomomorpha
- Superfamily: Lygaleoidea
- Family: Lygaeidae
- Subfamily: Lygaeinae
- Genus: Spilosethus
- Species:
- Spilosethus decoratus
- Spilosethus hospes
- Spilosethus pacificus
Footnote & References
- Many thanks for ID to Daniel Heald and Helen Van-Ross, members of Entomology Australia “Invertebratology”, Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/507004496955277/
- Spilostethus Stål, 1868, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/e8396de8-89d9-4be2-88d5-00ee5f9ce9c3
- Lygaeid Bugs – Superfamily LYGAEOIDEA, Brisbane Insects and Spiders, https://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_lygaeoidbugs/Lygaeidea.html
- Lectotype of Lygaeus hospes Fabricius, 1794 var. celebensis Breddin, 1901, Researchgate, https://www.researchgate.net/figure/FIGURES-1-3-Lectotype-of-Lygaeus-hospes-Fabricius-1794-var-celebensis-Breddin-1901_fig1_277602437
Alice Springs True Bugs (Heteroptera)Eucalyptus Tip-wilting Bug Ground Shield Bug (Choerocoris paganus) Ippatha australiensis Poecilometis patruelis (Shield Bug) Soapberry Bugs, Leptocoris sp Spilostethus sp Water Scorpion
Alice Springs InsectsAntlion (Heoclisis fundata) Ants (Formicidae) Bees Beetles Blattodea Butterflies & Moths (Lepidopterans) Diptera Dragonflies Mantodea – Mantises Orthoptera – Orthopteroids True Bugs (Heteroptera) Wasps
Alice Springs FaunaAlice Springs Native Bees Alice Springs Beetles Alice Springs Birds Alice Springs Gastropods (Gastropoda) Alice Springs Insects Alice Springs Marsupials Alice Springs Reptiles Alice Springs Spiders
Alice Springs FloraAlice Springs Flora Index Acacia ligulata Annual Yellowtop Bougainvillea Apple Bush Burdekin Plum Carob Tree (Ceratonia siliqa) Cattle Bush Desert Cotton (Aerva javanica) Desert Oak Eremophila Wildberry Feijoa sellowiana Flannel Cudweed Fork-leaf Corkwood Ghost Gum Golden Everlasting Kurrajong Lemon-flowered Gum MacDonnell’s Desert Fuchsia Native Bluebell Native Tomato Needlewood Olive Tree Perennial Yellow Top Rat’s Tail River Red Gum Inland River Red Gum Rosy Dock Round-leaved Mallee Scurvy Grass Silky Eremophila Stemodia viscosa Striped Mintbush Sturt’s Desert Pea Sturt’s Desert Rose Tangled Leschenaultia Tar Vine Weeping Bottlebrush White Cedar Yellow Billybutton Yellow-keeled Swainsona Yellow Oleander
Alice SpringsAlice Springs Accommodation Alice Springs Pet Friendly Accommodation Alice Springs Art & Culture Alice Springs Attractions Alice Springs Directory Alice Springs Distance Alice Springs Festival & Events Alice Springs Flora and Fauna Alice Springs Fauna Alice Springs Flora Getting Around Alice Springs Alice Springs Aboriginal Tours Alice Springs Tours Alice Springs Tours – Other