''Spilostethus hospes'', the darth maul bug, is a species of seed bug in the family

Lygaeidae The Lygaeidae are a family in the Hemiptera (true bugs), with more than 110 genera in four subfamilies. The family is commonly referred to as seed bugs, and less commonly, milkweed bugs, or ground bugs. However, while many of the species feed on ...

. It is found in Asia, Australasia, and Oceania. Its common name is a reference to the

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

character Darth Maul, who shares similar markings.

Ecology

Females tend to be more frequent than males. To date, only one population of ''Spilostethus hospes'' has been identified to carry a male-killing endosymbiotic bacterium. This bacteria has been shown to only kill males in this population, which may be one of the reasons that show a higher frequency of females.

References

External links

* Lygaeidae Insect pests of millets {{Lygaeoidea-stub