Green Stink Bug

Acrosternum hilare

Today's animal is quite the stinker! Literally! The Green Stink Bug has a very large gland on the underside of its thorax. These glands discharge a huge (for a bug) amount of smelly liquid when the bug is disturbed.

You can find Green Stink Bugs across North America, and they are the most common Stink Bugs on that continent. They are actually considered to be pests in some places, due to their love of seeds, grains, and fruits. They are not at all picky when it comes to food, and can have many, many different types of host plant that they snack on with their needle-like mouths.

Green Stink Bugs are shield-shaped and vibrantly green in color, even as small nymphs. Nymphs come from tiny barrel-shaped eggs that are laid on the undersides of leaves. One new generation is laid each year in the northern range, while two are more common in the south.

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IUCN Status : Not Listed
Location : North America
Size : Length up to 2cm

Classification : Phylum : Arthropoda -- Class : Insecta -- Order : Hemiptera
Family : Pentatomidae -- Genus : Acrosternum -- Species : A. hilare