Black-spotted Shield Bug
Keel, profile
Ellura
Long-spined Shield Bug
Dorsal
 
                      
Black-spotted Shield Bug (Cuspicona intacta)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: True Bugs (Hemiptera)
Family: Stink Bug (Pentatomoidea, Pentatomidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Black-spotted Shield Bug (Cuspicona intacta)
This Photo:     Ventral

Thank you Won-Gun Kim for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
~10mm long, covered in punctuations, randomly splattered with black. The black patches are not easily visible to the naked eye.
Most Cuspicona are green, but turn yellow brown after death (ie Museum Specimens). Gross didn't find one during his work, and the holotype was lost. As such, he didn't realise they are yellow brown in life too.
These are supposed to have 5 antennal segments, but as we have been found before with this family, this one has 5 segments on one antenna and 4 on the other. A deformation, not a lost tip. The 1st segments are very pale, with the 3rd segment turning red/brown towards the far end.
The head looks quite long and pointy, yet is wider (at the eyes) than long. This is probably due to the face narrowing quickly below the eyes.
Notice the transparent wings that look white, compared to normally dark/black wings.
We have noted the Keels on this type of bug before. Notice here how it is definately used as a support for the proboscis; it's cupped to fit.
These are known to feed on Eremophila freelingii, which is not found in our region but much further North.
However it was found on a flyscreen adjacent to a patch of Eremophila longifolia. One can surmise the one we found feeds on that species of emu bush too. It does look similar to an E. longifolia drying fruit.

Copyright © 2020-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 07-Feb-2020
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.