Lychee Stink Bug – Hong Kong Wildlife | 荔枝椿象 – 香港野生動物

Lychee giant stink bug (Tessaratoma papillosa) is beautiful bug growing to 24 mm. Nymphs are especially colorful. But it is considered a pest by farmers as it feeds on lychee and longan trees by sucking the saps from its flowers, young fruits, and twigs.

They are called stink bugs because when threatened their defense mechanism is a foul-smelling, long-lasting excretion. Local people believe it is poisonous and can cause blindness when rubbing eyes after touching it.

Fun fact: Females always lay 14 eggs. Not 13 or 15.

Tessaratoma papillosa (Drury, 1770)
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Family: Tessaratomidae
Genus: Tessaratoma
Species: papillosa

See more of my encounters with Hong Kong Wildlife.

荔枝椿象, 荔蝽, 臭屁蟲, 十四粒


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