Other Common Names
Burrowing Bug
White-margined Burrowing Bug
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Sehirus cinctus (Palisot de Beauvois)
Synonyms: Pentatoma cincta Palisot de Beauvois
Explanation of Names
CINCTUS: from the Latin "cinctura" (a girdle); probably refers to the white margin that girdles the adult's body
Numbers
The only species in this genus in North America. Two subspecies are recognized.
Identification
Shining black or blue-black to dark reddish brown. Has narrow white line along margins of body. Only strongly marked North American burrowing bug that is seen frequently on flowers.
Range
United States and southern Canada
Habitat
Fields, woodlands, lawns and gardens. Adults frequently found on common lawn weeds such as Henbit and Purple Dead-nettle, as well as on leaves and flowers of many species of herbaceous plants.
Season
February-June (North Carolina), March-June (southern Ontario), June-September (Minnesota)
Food
Feeds on developing seeds of plants in the mint family.
Life Cycle
Overwinters as an adult beneath leaf litter. Eggs deposited in holes in the soil in spring.
Remarks
Adult females care for the young and provision nest with seeds of the mint family.
Print References
Slater, p. 34, fig. 26
(2)
Arnett, p. 248, fig. 20.3
(3)Internet References
occurrence on crops - an incidental association with weeds in agricultural fields (U. of Illinois)
