Crops > Trees, palms & pandanus > Trees > Cajanus cajan, Coptosoma sp., stink bug, FSM



Crops > Trees, palms & pandanus > Trees > Cajanus cajan, Coptosoma sp., stink bug, FSM

Crops Trees, palms & pandanus Trees Cajanus cajan, Coptosoma sp., stink bug, FSM

Cajanus cajan, Coptosoma sp., stink bug, FSM

May 2011. An image of what was thought to be a beetle was sent from Kosrae, FSM. It was photographed on pigeon pea, Cajanus cajan. A colony was found on a tree. The sender wanted to know if it was beneficial or if he should get rid of it.

It was thought to be Coptosoma sp. (Hemiptera: Plataspididae, a bug, not a beetle. This bug is common on pigeon pea, but usually does not need to be controlled. If it happened to be the much larger coreid, Anoplocnemus, then that would be a greater problem as it feeds on the terminal shoopts and causes them to wilt.

One member thought that it might be C. xanthogramma, which is a pest on legumes. It first appeared in Hawaii in 1967.