Bug Wiki
Bug Wiki / All bugs / True bugs and cicadas
Sticker of Harlequin red bug
Bug card No. 2185 of 4,939

Harlequin red bug

Dindymus versicolor
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasGardens and meadows6 legs

The harlequin red bug is a bright orange-red bug from Australia with a black head and black bands on its wings. When it folds its wings, two red triangles show on its back. It has quite long legs.

Lives in
South-eastern Australia and Tasmania, in gardens
Length
1.2 cm (0.47 in)
Top speed
about 0.2 km/h (0.12 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people, but gardeners see it as a pest because it damages plants.
What does it eat?
It sucks the juice of many plants, like fruit trees, strawberries, grapes, vegetables and garden flowers.
For real!Photo of Harlequin red bug
Picture by Ian Sutton from Collinsville and Oberon, Australia. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Harlequin red bug about 1.2 cm long (0.47 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
as long as 2 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 18 seconds

How big is Harlequin red bug compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

In winter it hides in dark, shady places like under compost, wood and hedges.

2

It damages many crops, from cotton and figs to dahlias and violets.

3

It is a kind of cotton stainer, a family of red bugs.

you asked

Most asked questions about Harlequin red bug

?Is the harlequin red bug harmful?

It is harmless to people, but it can damage fruit, vegetables and flowers in gardens.

?Where does the harlequin red bug hide in winter?

Under compost, wood, hedges and fences, in dark shady places.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Dindymus versicolor
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Pyrrhocoridae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Pyrrhocoridae
Lives on
Australia and Oceania
Also known as
Harlequin bug

Where the facts come from

  1. Dindymus versicolor (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Ian Sutton from Collinsville and Oberon, Australia. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip

More from the same group: True bugs and cicadas

Pharaoh cicadaTrue bugs and cicadasSpotted lanternflyTrue bugs and cicadasBrown marmorated stink bugTrue bugs and cicadasCochinealTrue bugs and cicadasBoxelder bugTrue bugs and cicadasWestern conifer seed bugTrue bugs and cicadas

Also at home here: Gardens and meadows

Buff ermineMothsWestern subterranean termiteCockroaches and termitesHawaiian beet webworm mothMothsWestern lynx spiderSpidersSickle-bearing bush-cricketGrasshoppers and cricketsGreen milkweed locustGrasshoppers and crickets
Honey jarfor grown-ups