''Brachyplatys subaeneus'', also referred to as the black bean bug,''Brachyplatys subaeneus'' (Westwood), black bean bug, detected in South Florida
/ref> is a species of shield bugs belonging to the family

Plataspidae Plataspidae (Emendation (taxonomy), emended by some later authors as "Plataspididae", in violation of International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, ICZN Code Article 29.5) are a family of shield bugs native to the Old World. They are a family of ...

, occurring throughout much of Asia, and invasive elsewhere.Rédei, D. (2018). The identity of the ''Brachyplatys'' species recently introduced to Panama, with a review of bionomics (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Plataspidae). ''Zootaxa'' 4136: 141–154. It is known to be a pest, particularly in legume crops, but infests a wide range of plant species.Añino, Y.J., Sumba-Zhongor, M.B., Naranjo-Morán, J.A., Rodríguez, R. Santos-Murgas, R., and Zachrisson, B. (2020). Primer reporte de ''Brachyplatys subaeneus'' (Westwood) (Heteroptera: Plataspidae) en Ecuador y el listado sinóptico de sus plantas hospedantes. IDESIA (Chile) 38(1): 113–118.

Distribution

This species occurs over much of Asia, from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

eastward to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and Southeast Asia. Black bean bugs were found for the first time in the Western Hemisphere in 2012 in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

,Aiello, A., Saltonstall, K., and Young, V. (2016). ''Brachyplatys vahlii'' (Fabricius, 1787), an introduced bug from Asia: first report in the Western Hemisphere (Hemiptera: Plataspidae: Brachyplatidinae). ''BioInvasions Records'' 5: 7–12. though initially misidentified. There have been additional verified reports subsequently from

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

,Perez-Gelabert, D.E., Abud-Antún, A., and Nolasco, C. (2019). First record of the introduced Asian plataspid ''Brachyplatys subaeneus'' (Westwood) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Plataspidae) in the Dominican Republic. ''Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington'' 121: 135–138.

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

(in the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, in 2020).

Biology

Females produce 300–400 eggs, laid over a period of several months, deposited in hidden locations on or near host plants. Nymphs and adults tend to aggregate on stems or on petioles under leaves, where they feed on plant fluids. Black bean bugs show a clear preference for

Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...

(legumes), attacking common beans (''

Phaseolus ''Phaseolus'' (bean, wild bean) is a genus of herbaceous to woody annual and perennial vines in the family Fabaceae containing about 70 plant species, all native to the Americas, primarily Mesoamerica. It is one of the most economically importan ...

'' spp.), cowpeas ('' Vigna'' spp.),

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu an ...

(''Glycine max'' (L.)) and

pigeon pea The pigeon pea (''Cajanus cajan'') is a perennial legume from the family Fabaceae native to the Old World. The pigeon pea is widely cultivated in tropical and semitropical regions around the world, being commonly consumed in South Asia, Southeas ...

(''Cajanus cajan'' (L.)), but they also are reported to damage crop plants in several other plant families, such as

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the Convolvulus, bindweed or morning glory family (biology), family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a r ...

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

, and

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

. Given the wide range of hosts and the economic value of several of these crops, the potential economic consequences of the spread of this insect are considered significant.

References

External links

Brachyplatys subaeneus - iNaturalist
{{Taxonbar, from=Q10882913 Agricultural pest insects Invasive agricultural pests Hemiptera of Asia Shield bugs Insects described in 1837