Can anyone identify this one for me? Just spotted it a few minutes ago (though not for the first time). It's darkish brown, long antennae, rather flat, and it has "pointy shoulders" near the head. Is he a garden hero or a villain (or is he neutral)? (He also flies, as he did after I took the last photo.)
Thanks!
It's probably a brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys. They are invasive pests and I get them on my tomatoes.
I would agree with that assessment. Thanks!
This is NOT a brown marmorated stink bug; see http://stinkbugsguide.net/ for an image of one, and note the white-banded antennae and more rounded 'shoulders'. Some stink bugs with sharply pointed shoulders are actually beneficial predators - see http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/beneficial/podisus_maculiventris.htm for an example.
This message was edited Aug 22, 2013 1:26 PM
Flap, thanks for the correction.
Flap, thanks for the links. I agree--the "shoulders" are pointier than the brown marmorated stink bug's.
I've re-marked this thread as unsolved. Can anyone else out there give a positive ID, or at least an idea whether he's friend or foe in my garden? I think it could be the spined soldier bug, Podisus maculiventris, as seen in Flap's second link, but I'm not 100% sure, as the legs on my guy aren't as orange as the ones on that website...
