Hobbies And Interests
Color Patterns
The body of the green and southern green stink bugs are solid green and sectioned off by orange-yellow lines. The body of green stink bugs measures between 14 and 19 mm long. The brown stink bug has a brown-yellowish color, with no distinct color lines, and measures between 12 and 15 mm long. Brown stink bug nymphs look just like the adult stink bug, but smaller. Green nymphs are black-brown and southern green nymphs are light green with white spots on the back.
The Thorax (Body)
The body or thorax of the stink bug is between the head and the abdomen. The thorax is made up of three distinct segments: the prothorax, the mesathorax and the metathorax. Each segment has one leg on each side. The first two legs are attached to the prothorax. The second pair of legs are attached to the mesothorax, and the third pair of legs are attached to the metathorax. The abdomen is the third and last section of the stink bug's body.
Mouth and Antenna
Similar to the cicada and unlike the chewing mouths of grasshoppers, the stink bug has a long piercing-sucking mouth/beak located between the front two legs. The mouth of the stink bug is designed to eat wild plants, but the bugs have been known to eat cabbage and cotton plants. The antenna of the stink bug are threadlike appendages, unlike the club shape of butterflies, that detect chemical stimuli.
Wings
Stink bugs have four wings that, unlike appendages, grow outwards from the body wall (a feature particular to insects). The first set of wings grow from the mesothorax, and the second from the metathorax. Unlike the wings of beetles that have a hard protective elytra, stink bugs have hemielytra wings, which means the front wings are soft tissue and only the back wings have the hard protective shell. The wings of sting bugs can be used to determine their species; however, nymphs are wingless.
Legs
The legs of stink bugs are jointed appendages and have five different segments. The closest segment, the coxa, is attached to the thorax by a ball-and-socket joint. The second segment down is the trochanter, followed by the femur and then tibia. The last segment of the leg, the tarsus, is what the stink bug uses to grasp on to objects or plants. Stink bugs are most active between May and October.