COMMON NAME

Bronze orange bug

Order

Suborder

Family

Genus

Species

Alias

Hemiptera

Heteroptera

Tessaratomidae

Musgraveia sulciventris

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Description

Bronze orange bugs are shield/ stink bugs. The adults are quite large, oval-shaped and dark bronze in colour with a triangular shaped plate on their back. The nymphs are pale green when first hatched, changing colour with each instar (grey-green, yellow, pinky-orange, and dark brown). They are very flat and have a black spot on their backs. The eggs and hatchlings are both very hard to see as they are well camouflaged blending in with the colour of the leaves. They are strong flyers but slow moving. Like other stink bugs they excrete a foul-smelling liquid as a defensive response when disturbed. This liquid stains and can burn skin.

Adult size: 25mm

Out and about

These bugs like humid coastal areas. The adults appear in late spring through to mid-summer, increasing in numbers as the weather warms up and trees start to fruit and put out new growth.This bug is found in Australia on the coast of Queensland and New South Wales.

Reproduction and Life cycle

Females lay a cluster of pale green almost transparent, spherical-shaped eggs during summer on the undersides of leaves. These will hatch in 8-9 days, progressing through five instars before reaching the adult stage. They produce rapidly covering the stems of the trees in a short space of time.

To deter

To control

The nymphs have much softer bodies and this would be a good time to get them as they are more vulnerable All adults have a hard shell so it is more effective to use something they will ingest when they are piercing and sucking the sap from the stems and leaves. - Pyrethrum spray - Neem oil - Garlic and chilli spray may help to deter them - Soap spray - Diatomaceous earth on nymphs - Keep weeds down - Vacuuming the bugs off the tree

Plants to repel

Plants to attract

Predators

Assassin bugs / Birds / Parasiting wasps

Why they are a Pest

These bugs only attack citrus but are a pest on all citrus including native finger lime trees. They are piercing and sucking insects; feeding on the stems of new growth and particularly the fruit and flowers causing them to wither and drop off. If the fruit does form, it is stained inside. Two species are a problem on citrus trees. They are the common bronze orange bug which likes oranges, and the spined citrus bug which is smaller with spines on its shoulders and prefers lemons. Nymphs become a pest in autumn when they are in their second instar. They are usually about in large numbers.

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