emblatame (Ron)
"Hibiscus Biology" - Hibiscus Harlequin Bug - Tectocoris diophthalmus
4 weeks ago I pruned my hibiscus plants and at that time right till now I have some creatures to be found if you look hard enough. I have called these creatures on the Hibiscus plants "Hibiscus Biology". I am going to share some of the images, and first up are these bugs.
I had a number of these sucking bugs on my hibiscuses. Some are even orange. The bigger orange one is about 15 mm but this one here is maybe 8-10 mm. The colour varies from pale orange to heavily patterned in metalic green, blue and red. The back is covered with an enlarged shield-like scutellum.
They live in Northern and Eastern Australia and in Papua-New Guinea and some Pacific islands. They suck the sap from hibiscus plants and also from a species - Hibiscus tiliaceus. They can also attack cultivated cotton. The female lays clusters of eggs around twigs, and guards them until hatching. This is probably why they kept on the branches so much on one of my bushes but I did not think to look for eggs.
"Hibiscus Biology" - Hibiscus Harlequin Bug - Tectocoris diophthalmus
4 weeks ago I pruned my hibiscus plants and at that time right till now I have some creatures to be found if you look hard enough. I have called these creatures on the Hibiscus plants "Hibiscus Biology". I am going to share some of the images, and first up are these bugs.
I had a number of these sucking bugs on my hibiscuses. Some are even orange. The bigger orange one is about 15 mm but this one here is maybe 8-10 mm. The colour varies from pale orange to heavily patterned in metalic green, blue and red. The back is covered with an enlarged shield-like scutellum.
They live in Northern and Eastern Australia and in Papua-New Guinea and some Pacific islands. They suck the sap from hibiscus plants and also from a species - Hibiscus tiliaceus. They can also attack cultivated cotton. The female lays clusters of eggs around twigs, and guards them until hatching. This is probably why they kept on the branches so much on one of my bushes but I did not think to look for eggs.