Red-shouldered bug
The red-shouldered bug is a black bug with red eyes and red edges on its shoulders. It has a long, thin beak like a drinking straw. It pokes the beak into seed pods to reach the seeds inside.
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Fun facts
The babies are mostly red with a black front, so they look quite different from their parents.
You often see two bugs joined tail to tail. They can stay like that for about two days.
In Florida some of them started eating seeds of a new tree with smaller pods. In just a few decades their beaks got shorter to fit.
Right after it sheds its skin, it is bright red for a little while.
People often mix it up with boxelder bugs.
Most asked questions about Red-shouldered bug
?Are red-shouldered bugs harmful?
No. They do not sting or bite people, they just suck juice from seeds.
?What do red-shouldered bugs eat?
Seeds of soapberry plants, like the goldenrain tree and balloon vine.
?How big is the red-shouldered bug?
It is about 9.5 to 13.5 millimetres long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Jadera haematoloma
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Rhopalidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Rhopalidae
- Lives on
- North America, South America, Asia
- Also known as
- Goldenrain-tree bug, Soapberry bug
Where the facts come from
- Jadera haematoloma (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Louis J Bradley. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same 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.
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