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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Pyrrhocoroidea » Red Bugs (Pyrrhocoridae) » Cotton Stainers (Dysdercus)

Genus Dysdercus - Cotton Stainers

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Food · See Also · Works Cited
Red bug - Dysdercus mimulus Here is an adult - Dysdercus suturellus brown stainer - Dysdercus bimaculatus Unknown Florida Leaf Bug - Dysdercus suturellus Red Bug for ID - Dysdercus concinnus Plant Bugs? - Dysdercus concinnus - male - female Bug - Dysdercus mimulus Pale Red Bug - Dysdercus concinnus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)
Superfamily Pyrrhocoroidea
Family Pyrrhocoridae (Red Bugs)
Genus Dysdercus (Cotton Stainers)
Other Common Names
Red Bugs
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Checklist of US spp. based on(1)
Explanation of Names
"The feeding activities of cotton stainers on cotton produce a stain on the lint which reduces its value. A few authorities have reported the stain comes from excrement of the bugs. However, most have stated that the stain primarily is a result of the bug puncturing the seeds in the developing bolls causing a juice to exude that leaves an indelible stain. Feeding by puncturing flower buds or young cotton bolls usually causes reduction in size, or the fruiting body may abort and drop to the ground." - University of Florida
Numbers
9 spp. in our area(2)
Size
8-18 mm
Identification
Similar to Lygaeidae but lack ocelli; typically red and black
key to FL spp.
Range
so. US into the Neotropics
Food
mostly on members of the Mallow family, including cotton
See Also
Largus
Works Cited
1.Catalog of the Heteroptera, or True Bugs of Canada and the Continental United States
By Thomas J. Henry, Richard C. Froeschner
2.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
By Ross H. Arnett
Contributed by Stephen Cresswell on 6 November, 2004 - 7:12am
Additional contributions by cotinis, Hannah Nendick-Mason, Mike Quinn, Ron M., v belov
Last updated 5 September, 2011 - 10:23pm

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