Family Coreidae - Tip Wilter, Leaf Footed Bugs, Squash Bugs
- Quite a number of bugs in this family can easily be found in Brisbane. However, some of them look similar and hard to be identified. They are mostly from 10 to 25mm in body length.
- Clown Bugs - the gum tree tip wilter, male and female
- Family Coreidae can be distinguished from the Lygaeidae by their forewings which have dense longitudinal parallel veins. Coreidae has head narrower and most often shorter than pronotum, which can be distinguished from Alydidae have a head that is nearly as wide as and as long as the pronotum. Most of them have two ocelli. They are medium to large in size.
- Some species in this family with hind legs expanded and somewhat leaf-like, and those are commonly called Leaf Footed Bugs. Their antennae are four segmented.
- Some species in this family called Tip Wilters because they suck out the plant juices just below the tip of a new branch causing it to droop and wilt soon afterwards. They are common pest species in many crop plants as well as garden plants and vegetables.
- Coreid adults are relatively slow moving and are seen on the tips of shoots. Nymph stages are fast moving. All of them are with strong repellent odours.
- Coreid eggs Coreid instars
- Coreid 1st instars Six small bugs just hatched
- We found quite a number of different coreid species in Brisbane. They are in two sub-families as listed below.
Tribe Agriopocorini
- Wingless Coreid Bug
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- Agriopocoris sp., body length 10mm
- During early summer in Alexandra Hill, on a young Acacia tree, we found quite a number of this bugs resting in the stem. They are brown to dark brown in colour. Their adults are wingless, look like the nymphs of other bugs in this family. More information and pictures can be found in this page.
Tribe Amorbini
Majority of species in this tribe are commonly known as Eucalyptus Tip Bugs. Most look very similar. They are large, robust and brown in colour. They have orange-red banded body covered with brown wings. Males have shouter hind femora and spiny hind legs. They feed on shoots of Eucalyptus trees. Their nymphs are variable mixed bright colours.
- Eucalyptus Tip Bug I, Gumtree Bug
- Amorbus alternatus, nymph and adult, length 20mm
- The Eucalyptus Tip Bugs are dark brown in colour with light brown and orange on the legs and antennae. The are the alternated brown and yellow along the edges of the adbomen. Males have shouter hind femora and spiny hind legs. Nymphs are colourful yellow-pink with bright blue patterns. More information please click here.
- Eucalyptus Tip Bug II
- ? Amorbus bispinus, body length 20mm
- We saw this bug once when it was get caught by the Muscleman Tree Ants. We have recorded in here.
- Eucalyptus Tip Bug III, Clown Bug
- Amorbus robustus, nymph and adult, body length 15mm, 22mm
- This the the most common Amorbus species in Brisbane. This large bug can be found from early summer to early winter. The adults usually found standing on the top or the young shoots of gum trees, with hind legs extended on both sides. They will not change it posture even if we disturb. The bug is reddish brown in colour, with strong and spiny hind legs. We have detail information in this page.
- Eucalyptus Tip Bug VI, Wilted-tip-mimicking Bug
- Amorbus rhombifer, body length 20mm
- This bug was found on alone White Hill on Oct 2004. It was hanging upside-down on a gum tree new shot, mimicking a dry leaf remain of a wilted tip. The bug has a round and flat abdomen. More pictures and information please click here.
Tribe Mictini
- Crusader Bug, Holy Cross Bug
- Mictis profana, nymph, adult, length 20mm, 25mm
- This bug is dark brown in colour and with a diagonal white cross on its back like the Crusader's shield. Its hind legs are thick and strong. On day time I find many of them feeding on plants just do not care if there are any predators. More information click here.
- Large Squash Bug
- Mictis caja, body length nymph 20mm, adult 25mm
- We found this large squash bugs along Bulimba Creek in Yugarapul Park during summer season. The bugs are brown in colour, with strong hind legs and round shoulder. They were found on different plants so we are not sure what is their host plant. More pictures and information can be found in this page.
Tribe Dasynini
- Fruit-spotting Bug
- Amblypelta lutescens or A. nitida, body length nymph 15mm, adult 20mm
- This bug has pale green body and legs. Its thorax and front wing covers are pale-brown in colour. Its legs and antenna are brown in colour with a bright yellow segments near the tips. We only saw those bugs a few times from late summer to early winter. We found them on Hibiscus plants and other plants. More pictures and information please also find in this page.
- Cotton Plant Bug, False Stainer
- Aulacosternum nigrorubrum, Nymph and adult, length 15mm, 20mm
- This Cotton Plant Bugs easily found on the Hibiscus plants in our back yard. The bugs are red orange in colour with black legs. They are slow moving, always found sucking the juice from the young shoots or flower buds. On early summer 2000, we recorded this bug lay about ten eggs on the Hibiscus leave. A month later, some young bugs are found in the same place. We recorded their growth. To see more details click here.
Tribe Gonocerini
- Horned Coreid Bug
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- Cletus sp., body length 12mm
- We found a few of these bugs actively flying around near the water edge of a lagoon in Karawatha Forest during later summer Feb 2008. The bugs were horned at the shoulder and orange brown in colour. More pictures and information can be found here.
- Reference:
- 1. Insects
of Australia, CSIRO, Division of Entomology, Melbourne University
Press, 2nd Edition 1991, pp 503.
- 2. Coreidae - Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, 2005.
