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Species: Brochymena quadripustulata |
Common Name: Bumpy Stinkbug |
Order: Hemiptera |
Family: Pentatomidae |
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The genus Brochymena occurs throughout North and Central America (1). This species can be found year-round. They are spring breeders, and adults overwinter under the bark of trees and logs. Brochymena is considered mostly herbivorous, but some have been reported as sometimes being predatory. They do not have much economic importance, although Brochymena quadripustulata has been reported to damage peaches in South Carolina. This particular specimen was found on Central Campus of Duke University. Upon capture, it released an almondy smell (possibly a defensive cyanogenic compound).
(1) Lariviere, M-C., Description of Parabrochymena, New Genus, and redefinition and review of Brochymena Amyot and Audinet-Serville (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), with considerations on natural history, chorological affinities, and evolutionary relationships, Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, vol. 163, (1992), pp. 3-75.
(2) Schuh, R. T. and J.A. Slater, True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera): Classification and Natural History, (1995), Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press.
(3) Triplehorn, C.A. and N.F. Johnson, Borror and Delong's Introduction to the Study of Insects, 7th ed., (2005), Thomson Brooks/Cole.