Nezara viridula

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Paraneoptera
Superordo: Condylognatha
Ordo: Hemiptera
Subordo: Heteroptera
Infraordo: Pentatomomorpha
Superfamilia: Pentatomoidea

Familia: Pentatomidae
Subfamilia: Pentatominae
Tribus: Nezarini
Genus: Nezara
Species: Nezara viridula
Name

Nezara viridula (Linnaeus, 1758)

Type locality: in Indiis

Synonyms

Cimex viridulus Linnaeus, 1758
Cimex torquatus Fabricius, 1775 [Synonymized with smaragdulus by Illiger, 1807]

Type locality: India

Cimex smaragdulus Fabricius, 1775 [Synonymized by Stål, 1865]
Cimex transversus Thunberg, 1783 [Synonymized by Stål, 1855]
Cimex variabilis Villers, 1789 [Synonymized by Reuter, 1888]
Cimex spirans Fabricius, 1798 [Synonymized by Stål, 1868]
Cimex viridissimus Wolff, 1801 [Homonym of Cimex viridissimus Poda, 1761. Synonymized with smaragdula by Fieber, 1861]
Pentatoma? flavicollis Palisot de Beauvois, 1805 [Synonymized with smaragdula by Amyot & ,Serville 1843]
Pentatoma oblonga Westwood, 1837 [Synonymized by Distant, 1901]
Pentatoma unicolor Westwood, 1837 [Synonymized by Stål, 1865]
Pentatoma berylina Westwood, 1837 [Synonymized by Distant, 1901]
Pentatoma subsericea Westwood, 1837 [Synonymized by Stål, 1865]
Pentatoma leii Westwood, 1837 [Synonymized by Stål, 1865]
Pentatoma tripunctigera Westwood, 1837 [Synonymized by Stål, 1865]
Pentatoma chinensis Westwood, 1837 [Synonymized by Stål, 1865]
Pentatoma proxima Westwood, 1837 [Synonymized with tripunctigera by Westwood 1837]. [Synonymized by Stål, 1865] Nomen nudum Rider, 2006
Pentatoma chloris Westwood, 1837 [Synonymized by Stål, 1865]
Pentatoma chlorocephala Westwood, 1837 [Synonymized by Lethierry & Severin, 1893]
Pentatoma propinqua Westwood, 1837 [Comp. with unicolor by Westwood 1837]. [Synonymized by Stål, 1865] Nomen nudum Rider, 2006
Cimex hemichloris Germar, 1838 [Synonymized by Stål, 1865]
Nezara approximata Reiche & Fairmaire, 1848 [Synonymized by Stål, 1865]
Pentatoma plicaticollis Lucas, 1849 [Synonymized with smaragdula by Mulsant & ,Rey 1866]
Rhaphigaster prasinus Dallas, 1851 (not Linnaeus, 1758) [Misidentification, see Stål, 1865]
Rhaphigaster orbus Stål, 1854 [Synonymized by Stål, 1865]
Pentatoma vicaria Walker, 1867 [Synonymized by Distant, 1900]
Nezara viridula var. aurantiaca Costa, 1884 [Synonymized by Reuter, 1907]
Nezara viridula var. hepatica Horváth, 1903 [Synonymized by Reuter, 1907]
Nezara antennata var. icterica Horváth, 1889

Type locality: Himalaya

Nezara icterica Horváth, 1889 [Synonymized by Ferrari, Schwertner & Grazia, 2010]

References
Primary references

Fabricius, J.C. 1775. Systema entomologiae, sistens insectorum classes, ordines, genera, species, adiectis synonymis, locis, descriptionibus, observationibus. Libraria Kortii, Flensburgi et Lipsiae. xvi+ 832 pp. DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.36510. BHL. Reference page. [p. 710 and 711]
Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio Decima, Reformata. Tomus I. Holmiæ (Stockholm): impensis direct. Laurentii Salvii. 824 pp. DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.542 [first availability: page 444] BHL Reference page.

Additional references

Clarke, A.R. 1992: Current distribution and pest status of Nezara viridula (L.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in Australia. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society, 31: 289–297. DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-6055.1992.tb00507.x
Ferrari, A., Schwertner, C.F. & Grazia, J. 2010. Review, cladistic analysis and biogeography of Nezara Amyot & Serville (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). Zootaxa 2424: 1–41. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.194550 ResearchGate Open access. [Erratum in Zootaxa 2480 (2010): 68. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2480.1.7 ResearchGate Open access Reference page.
Freeman, P. 1940. A contribution to the study of the genus Nezara Amyot & Serville (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae). Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 90(12): 351–374. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2311.1940.tb01026.x Reference page.
Linnavuori, R.E. 1982. Pentatomidae and Acanthosomidae of Nigeria and the Ivory Coast, with remarks on species of the adjacent countries in west and central Africa. Acta Zoologica Fennica 163: 1–176. Reference page.
Rider, D.A. 2006. Family Pentatomidae. p. 233–403, In: Aukema, A. & Rieger, C. (eds). Catalogue of the Heteroptera of the Palaearctic Region, vol 5. The Netherlands Entomological Society, Amsterdam. ResearchGate Open access PDF. Reference page.
Shaw, S.R.; Salerno, G.; Colazza, S.; Peri, E. 2001: First record of Aridelus rufotestaceus Tobias (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Euphorinae) parasitizing Nezara viridula nymphs (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) with observations on its immature stages and development. Journal of Hymenoptera research, 10: 131–137. ISSN: 1070-9428 Internet Archive BHL

Links

Zicha, Ondřej et al. Nezara viridula (Linnaeus, 1758) – Taxon details on Biological Library (BioLib).
Nezara viridula (Linnaeus, 1758) – Taxon details on Fauna Europaea.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility. 2019. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset. Taxon: Nezara viridula.
Nezara viridula – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
ION
ZooBank: FCDCA915-6DD8-4A75-ACAE-29120AB0777F
Nezara viridula Classification of Pentatomoidea, North Dakota State University.

Vernacular names
English: green vegetable bug, southern green stink bug
magyar: Zöld vándorpoloska
日本語: ミナミアオカメムシ
português: Maria Fedida
slovenščina: Zelena smrdljivka

Nezara viridula, commonly known as the southern green stink bug (USA), southern green shield bug (UK) or green vegetable bug (Australia and New Zealand), is a plant-feeding stink bug. Believed to have originated in Ethiopia, it can now be found around the world.[1] Because of its preference for certain species of legumes, such as beans and soybeans, it is an economically important pest on such crops.[2]

Description

The adult males can reach a body length (from front to elytral apex) of about 12.1 millimetres (0.48 in), while females are bigger, reaching a size of about 13.1 millimetres (0.52 in). The body is bright green and shield-shaped and the eyes are usually reddish, but they may also be black. They differ from the similar green stink bug (Chinavia hilare) by the shape of their scent gland openings, which are short and wide in N. viridula, and narrow and long in the green stink bug.[1]
Color morphs

Several distinct morphs can be distinguished by the pattern of their exoskeleton coloration, which is predominantly green. The most common one has three parallel white spots on the scutellum (Nezara viridula f. smaragdula), and the third has white or yellowish front margins on the head and the thorax (Nezara viridula f. torquata Fabricius, 1775).[3] The very rare Nezara viridula f. aurantiaca has a uniformly orange or yellow coloration and the spots on the scutellum are still visible.[4]
Nezara viridula f. smaragdula
Nezara viridula f. smaragdula
Nezara viridula f. torquate
Nezara viridula f. torquata
Nezara viridula f. aurantiaca
Nezara viridula f. aurantiaca
Life history

Nezara viridula reproduces throughout the year in tropics. In temperate zones this species presents a reproductive winter diapause, associated with a reversible change of body colouration from green to brown or russet.[5]

When ready to mate N.viridula sound 100 Hz vibration with a "tymbal" composed of a fused first and second terga (not to be confused with tymbal of cicadas) that allow bi-directional communication to any Nezara standing on the same plant so they could find each other. The female lays 30 to 130 eggs at a time, in the form of an egg mass glued firmly to the bottom of a leaf. The eggs are barrel-shaped, with an opening on the top.[1] The eggs take between 5 and 21 days to develop, depending on the temperature.[6] The newborn larvae gather near the empty eggs and do not feed until three days later, after the first moult. They moult five times before reaching maturity, increasing in size each time. Each instar stage lasts about a week, except for the last one before the metamorphosis, which is a day longer.[1] Up to four generations can develop in one year, with eggs developing into adults in as few as 35 days in mid-summer. Up until their third moult the larvae aggregate together on the host plant, the purpose of this aggregation is probably pooling of chemical defenses against predators, for example ants.[6]
Gallery

Eggs

First instar

Second instar

Third instar

Fourth instar

Fifth instar

Adult, winter color pattern

Ecology

It is a highly polyphagous herbivore, able to feed on plants from over 30 families, both monocots and dicots.[6] It has a preference for legumes, preferring to feed on plants that are fruiting or forming pods.[6]

The most important factor limiting the population in temperate zones is winter cold. Mortality of overwintering individuals is between 30 and 80%, and the population cannot survive in areas where the average mid-winter temperature is below 5 °C.[7] Females are more likely to survive the winter than males, as are larger individuals and those that develop reddish-brown coloration.[6] In recent decades, the species seems to be expanding its range towards the north in the northern hemisphere, possibly because of global warming.[7][8] The animal's ability to survive the winter also depends on the timely onset of diapause.
Origin and range

Nezara viridula is a cosmopolitan species, living in tropical and subtropical regions of Americas, Africa, Asia, Australasia and Europe between 45 degrees north and 45 degrees south.[6] Its exact origin is unknown, but it is believed to have originated from the Ethiopia region of East Africa, from where it has spread around the world thanks to its strong flight and human trade routes.[6]
See also

Green stink bug (Chinavia hilare)

References

Squitier J.M. (1997, updated 2007) »Southern green stink bug« Featured creatures, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural services.
Panizzi A.R. et al. (2000). Stink bugs (Pentatomidae). In: Schaefer C.W. & Panizzi A.R. (eds.). Heteroptera of economic importance, str. 421-747. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Biolib
Mary Golden and Peter A. Follett First report of Nezara viridula f. aurantiaca in Hawai
Musolin, Dmitry (2012). Surviving winter: diapause syndrome in the southern green stink bug Nezara viridula Physiological Entomology - Volume 37, Issue 4, pages 309–322
Todd J.W. (1989). »Ecology and behavior of Nezara viridula«. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 34: 273-292. doi:10.1146/annurev.en.34.010189.001421
Musolin D.L. (2005). »The Southern Green Shield Bug Nezara viridula (L.) expands its distribution range, not only in the U.K.« Het News - Newsletter of the Heteroptera Recording Schemes. Retrieved on 2008-10-14.
Yukava J. et al. (2007). »Distribution range shift of two allied species, Nezara viridula and N. antennata (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), in Japan, possibly due to global warming[permanent dead link]«. Applied Entomology and Zoology 42(2): 205-215

Insects of Cyprus