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National Moth Week was July 19-27, and the Summer 2025 gathering in Louisiana, July 19-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Subfamily Asopinae - Predatory Stink Bugs

Representative Images

Blue Green Orange Bug - Euthyrhynchus floridanus Stinkbug - Picromerus bidens Picromerus bidens Apateticus lineolatus Podisus nymph - Podisus serieventris Unknown stink bug - Alcaeorrhynchus grandis predatory stink bug - Podisus brevispinus Stink bug nymph (Pentatomidae) ??? - Podisus placidus

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)
Infraorder Pentatomomorpha
Superfamily Pentatomoidea
Family Pentatomidae (Stink Bugs)
Subfamily Asopinae (Predatory Stink Bugs)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

no generally accepted tribal arrangement exists

Explanation of Names

Asopinae Spinola 1850

Numbers

35 spp. in 16 genera in our area(1), ~300 spp. in 66 genera worldwide(2)

Identification

easily recognized by the free first segment of the rostrum(3); rostrum enlarged, very little of it fits between bucculae(4)
see(5)
"In identifying asopines it helps to be color blind" (D.B. Thomas)

Range

worldwide and throughout NA(1)

Food

Predatory, unlike other stink bugs; feed on other insects. Prey is primarily slow-moving soft-bodied insects, especially larvae. Most are generalist predators.

Remarks

Several species are used in Integrated Pest Management. Some are commercially available, e. g. Podisus maculiventris.

Works Cited

1.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
2.Rider D. (2006-) Pentatomoidea home page
3.An updated synopsis of the Pentatomoidea (Heteroptera) of Michigan
Swanson D.R. 2012. Great Lakes Entomol. 45: 263‒311.
4.The Heteroptera (Hemiptera) of North Dakota I: Pentatomomorpha: Pentatomoidea
Rider D.A. 2012. Great Lakes Entomol. 45: 312‒380.
5.Taxonomic synopsis of the asopine Pentatomidae (Heteroptera) of the western hemisphere
Thomas D.B. 1992. ESA Thomas Say Monograph. Lantham, MD. 156 pp.
Contributed by John R. Maxwell on 4 January, 2009 - 2:59pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Vox Sciurorum, v belov
Last updated 18 July, 2019 - 12:12pm

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