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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Shield Bugs (Acanthosomatidae) » Elasmostethus » Red-Cross Shield Bug (Elasmostethus cruciatus)

Species Elasmostethus cruciatus - Red-Cross Shield Bug

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Life Cycle · Internet References
 Stink Bug - Elasmostethus cruciatus Red-Cross Shield Bug - Elasmostethus cruciatus Red-Cross Shield Bug?? - Elasmostethus cruciatus Beetles? - Elasmostethus cruciatus Beetles? - Elasmostethus cruciatus Red-cross Shield Bug - Elasmostethus cruciatus Red-Cross Shield Bug - Elasmostethus cruciatus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)
Family Acanthosomatidae (Shield Bugs)
Genus Elasmostethus
Species cruciatus (Red-Cross Shield Bug)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Elasmostethus cruciata
Explanation of Names
CRUCIATUS: cross-shaped or cruciform; from the Latin "crux" (a cross) - a reference to the cross-shaped marking on the bug's back
Size
8-10 mm
Identification
the red cross-shaped marking on the back is diagnostic; in the similar holarctic species E.interstinctus, the pattern is not as constricted in the middle; compare:
Range
eastern North America
Habitat
on shrubs and trees
Life Cycle
overwinters as adult beneath leaf litter, bark, etc.
Internet References
live adult image (Joyce Gross, U. of California - photo taken in New York State)
pinned adult image (Insects of Cedar Creek, Minnesota)
pinned adult image (Insects of Quebec)
Contributed by Robin McLeod on 1 April, 2005 - 9:47am
Additional contributions by Boris Bueche
Last updated 27 April, 2007 - 10:52am

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