Oncopeltus fasciatus
Oncopeltus fasciatus | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Oncopeltus fasciatus |
||||||||||
Systematics | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Scientific name | ||||||||||
Oncopeltus fasciatus | ||||||||||
( Dallas , 1852) |
Oncopeltus (Erythrischius) fasciatus is a bug from the family of ground bugs (Lygaeidae). In English, the type of bug bears the name Large Milkweed Bug ("Large silk plant bug").
features
The bugs become 10-18 mm long. They contain toxins and are colored warning signs . The pronotum is black with an orange-colored edge. A wide black transverse band runs over the orange corium of the half-ceilings. The membrane of the fore wings is black. The male adults have a black band on the ventral side on the fourth abdomen segment. The females have two black spots in the same place.
distribution
Oncopeltus fasciatus is native to North America. Their distribution area extends from southern Canada over the east and southwest of the United States and Mexico to Costa Rica in Central America. The species is also represented on the West Indies . The populations found in the northern part of North America usually move south in autumn and overwinter on the southern Atlantic coast or the Gulf coast.
Way of life
The bugs go through five nymph stages. They are often found on the eponymous silk plants ( Asclepias ) (English milkweed ), especially on the common milkweed ( Asclepias syriaca ). They suck on the seed pods, leaves and stems of this plant genus . In doing so, they also absorb the toxins contained in the plant sap , in particular cardenolides , which they store in their bodies . These serve to deter predators . The poison is usually not lethal, even for invertebrates, but it is inedible. As a result, the conspicuous warning color protects other conspecifics ( aposematism ) against invertebrate predators such as z. As the Mantis Tenodera ardifolia efficiently.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Species Oncopeltus fasciatus - Large Milkweed Bug . bugguide.net. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
- ↑ a b c Oncopeltus fasciatus - Large Milkweed Bug . www.americaninsects.net. Archived from the original on February 21, 2017. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
- ^ A b Insects of the Duke Campus - Oncopeltus fasciatus . Duke University. Archived from the original on July 11, 2015. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
- ↑ a b May R. Berenbaum, E. Miliczky: Mantids and milkweed bugs: Efficacy of aposematic coloration against invertebrate predators . In: The American Midland Naturalist , Vol. 111, No. 1, January 1984, pp. 64-68, doi : 10.2307 / 2425543 .
- ↑ a b Milkweed bugs . www.missouribotanicalgarden.org. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
- ↑ MB Isman, SS Duffey, GG El Scudder: Variation in cardenolide content of the lygaeid bugs, Oncopeltus fasciatus and Lygaeus kalmii kalmii and of their milkweed hosts (Asclepias spp.) In central California. In: Journal of Chemical Ecology , Vol. 3, No. 6, March 30, 1977, pp. 613-624, doi : 10.1007 / BF00988061 .
Web links
- Oncopeltus fasciatus in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)
- nathistoc.bio.uci.edu - photos of adults and nymphs