Small Milkweed Bug - Lygaeus turcicus - BugGuide.Net

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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Pentatomomorpha » Lygaeoidea » Seed Bugs (Lygaeidae) » Lygaeinae » Lygaeus » False Milkweed Bug (Lygaeus turcicus)

Photo#35141

Copyright © 2005 tom murray

Small Milkweed Bug - Lygaeus turcicus

Wayland, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA
October 19, 2005
Size: 10.5mm

After checking the info section of the Lygaeus kalmii page, the internet reference picture is just like this pattern.

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Contributed by tom murray on 20 October, 2005 - 8:10pm
Last updated 12 April, 2009 - 11:45am

Moved

Moved from Lygaeus.

… john and jane balaban, 12 April, 2007 - 7:33am

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Moved

Moved from Small Milkweed Bug. Eric has posted a note wondering if these might be something other than kalmii. Different color pattern on the back and on the head. We moved them all together here on the genus page until someone can clarify things.

… john and jane balaban, 11 April, 2007 - 4:40pm

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John and Jane,

that would be interesting to find out these are a different species.

… tom murray, 11 April, 2007 - 8:33pm

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There is an image

here which is our creature which is listed as Lygaeus turcicus. Unfortunately we also found images of the same creature listed as kalmii and images of kalmii listed as turcicus, so we don't know what to say. But at least there does seem to be another valid species and it may be that this Ojibway reference has it correct! What do you want to do? Unfortunately this same site has the same problem with Chariesterus that we had!!
North Carolina has 14 specimens of turcicus and 128 of kalmii which seems to fit our distribution of images!

… john and jane balaban, 11 April, 2007 - 11:15pm

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Lygaeus turcicus

This sounds like it might be right. Like you said, the distribution is about the right percentage, and lots of references have pictures of kalmii that look a little different than this. I'll leave it up to you if you think it should be put under L. turcicus, or left alone until someone else makes a decision.

… tom murray, 11 April, 2007 - 11:41pm

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