Armoured Tip-wilter - ? sp.
Family Coreidae
This page contains pictures and information about Armoured Tip-wilter Bugs that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Body length 30mm
- The bug adults were brown in colour, with the armour shape thorax. The head is small, has four segmented antenna with white tip. The hind legs expanded and somewhat leaf-like.
- We found them in Ford Road Conservation Area during later summer Jan 2009. Different instars stages and adults were found feeding on the same host plant. Some adults were mating.
- Early instars were black in colour on the top, with white to pale blue on the bottom. They camouflaged as the wilted tips that they made.
- Last instars has the same body shape as adult, with the armour shape thorax. They are pale blue in colour with brown spots.
- All instars and adults were very slow moving. Most adults and nymphs fed on host plant stem near the new shot tip, with abdomen bottom facing upwards. This distorted their body shape as a bug and help for the camouflage.
The Host Plant
- Sweet Morinda
- Morinda jasminoides (RUBIACEAE)
- The host plant is a climber vine yet to be identified. There were plenty of them in the creek valley. They climbed on all type of plants to about 2 meter high.
- Thank to Robert Whyte for the ID of the host plant.
- Reference:
- 1. Coreidae - Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, 2005.
- 2. Morinda jasminoides (RUBIACEAE) Sweet Morinda - Save Our Waterways Now, 2008.
