Green Stink Bug - Missouri Department Of Conservation

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Green Stink Bug

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Media Scientific Name Chinavia hilaris (formerly Acrosternum hilare) Family Pentatomidae (stink bugs) in the order Hemiptera (true bugs) Description

The green stink bug is one of many species of stink bugs. Like others in their family, they emit a foul odor when they are harassed or crushed. Also like other stinkbugs, the folded wings form an X pattern on the back.

Green stink bugs are some of the first insects to become active in early spring, and the sight of them is rather cheerful after a long winter. Their bright green color is conspicuous against the drab tan leaf litter as they wander slowly about.

They mate in the spring and lay eggs on the undersides of leaves. About a week later, black nymphs hatch. As they get older, they grow, molt, and look different. After the last molt, they have wings and are green adults.

Green stink bugs eat a wide variety of plants. Like other true bugs, they have strawlike mouthparts adapted for sucking nutrients, especially from developing seeds and fruits. Green stink bugs feed on plants and are occasionally pests.

Similar species: The southern stink bug (Nezara viridula) is also green. You have to look closely to tell it apart from the green stink bug. The southern stink bug has a small black dot in each lower corner of the scutellum (the shieldlike or shoulderlike plate behind the head). The outer antennae segments are mostly reddish. The flattened outer margin of the abdomen (the connexivum) is basically all green, lacking the series of dark dots and yellowish color characteristic of the green stink bug.

Learn more about this and other stink bugs on their group page.

Other Common Names Green Stinkbug Title Media Gallery Image Caption The green stink bug (Chinavia hilaris, formerly Acrosternum hilare) is one of many species of stink bugs. Like other stinkbugs, the folded wings form an X pattern on the back. Credit Susan Ellis, Bugwood.org Right to Use Use of this image is restricted to MDC only 1/6 Image Caption Green stink bugs are some of the first insects to become active on warm days in late winter, and the sight of them is rather cheerful. Right to Use Photo by MDC Staff, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation 2/6 Image Caption Green stink bug fourth-instar (fourth-stage) nymphs have reddish markings and yellow stripes. Credit Jim Rathert Right to Use Photo by Jim Rathert, courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation 3/6 Image Caption The green stink bug is one of many species of stink bugs. Like others in their family, for defense, they emit a foul odor when harassed or crushed. Credit Julianna Schroeder Right to Use Use of this image is restricted to MDC only 4/6 Image Caption This ventral view of a green stink bug shows the brown, strawlike rostrum (beak) tucked against the body. The insect pokes the rostrum into various parts of plants and sucks plant juices. Credit Julianna Schroeder Right to Use Use of this image is restricted to MDC only 5/6 Image Caption Opossums aren’t the only animals that play possum. The proper term for “playing dead” is thanatosis, and several insects use this defense strategy, including green stink bugs. Credit Julianna Schroeder Right to Use Use of this image is restricted to MDC only 6/6 Image Image Image Image Image Image Title Similar Species Similar Species Media Stink Bugs Media Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Media Ambush Bugs Media Common True Katydid Media Katydids Media Green June Beetle Media Planthoppers Media Leafhoppers Media Leaf-Footed Bugs (Coreids) Media Assassin Bugs Media Plant Bugs (Mirids) Media Spittlebugs and Froghoppers Media Seed Bugs About Land Invertebrates in Missouri Invertebrates are animals without backbones, including earthworms, slugs, snails, and arthropods. Arthropods—invertebrates with “jointed legs” — are a group of invertebrates that includes crayfish, shrimp, millipedes, centipedes, mites, spiders, and insects. There may be as many as 10 million species of insects alive on earth today, and they probably constitute more than 90 percent all animal species.

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