''Glaucias amyoti'', commonly called the Australasian green shield bug or New Zealand vegetable bug, is a species of
shield bug
The Pentatomoidea are a superfamily of insects in the Heteroptera suborder of the Hemiptera order. As Hemiptera, they share a common arrangement of sucking mouthparts. The roughly 7000 species under Pentatomoidea are divided into 21 families (1 ...
found in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
,
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
and
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
.
Adults and juveniles feed off plants including certain ''
Coprosma
''Coprosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is found in New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Borneo, Java, New Guinea, islands of the Pacific Ocean to Australia and the Juan Fernández Islands.
Description
The name ''Copros ...
'', ''
Griselinia
''Griselinia'' is a genus of seven species of shrubs and trees, with a highly disjunct distribution native to New Zealand and South America. It is a classic example of the Antarctic flora. It is the sole genus in the family Griseliniaceae; in th ...
'' and ''
Myoporum
''Myoporum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae (formerly placed in Myoporaceae). There are 30 species in the genus, eighteen of which are endemic to Australia although others are endemic to Pacific Islands, in ...
'' species.
Description
According to the original description, adults of ''G. amyoti'' are ovate in shape and green in colour. The dorsal surface is densely punctate, while the ventral surface is paler and very finely punctate. The edges of the thorax, hemelytra and abdomen are paler than the rest. The hemelytral membranes are transparent. The disc of the underside is yellowish. The legs are green. The rostrum is testaceous (a dull orange or brownish colour) except for a black tip. The antennae are green. The body length is 7-8 lines, which is equivalent to about 15-17 mm.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5567267
Pentatomidae
Insects of Timor
Insects described in 1851
Hemiptera of New Zealand