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Sticker of Southern green stink bug
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Southern green stink bug

Nezara viridula
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasGardens and meadows6 legs

The southern green stink bug is a bright green bug shaped like a shield, with three tiny white dots on its back. It sucks juice from plants, especially beans. It probably came from Ethiopia in Africa, but now it lives in warm places all around the world.

Lives in
Warm parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas and Australia, in gardens and fields
Length
1.2 to 1.3 cm (0.48 to 0.52 in)
Top speed
about 0.21 km/h (0.13 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. It does not bite or sting, but farmers do not like it on their bean crops.
What does it eat?
It sucks sap from more than 30 families of plants. Its favourites are beans and soybeans, especially when they have pods.
For real!Photo of Southern green stink bug
Picture by Didier Descouens. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Southern green stink bug about 1.3 cm long (0.52 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 17 seconds

How big is Southern green stink bug compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

To find each other on a plant, they send tiny buzzing vibrations through the leaves and stems.

2

The female glues 30 to 130 barrel-shaped eggs under a leaf.

3

Most are green, but a very rare few are orange, yellow or even pink.

4

In cold places it turns brown for the winter and green again in spring.

5

Babies stay in a group on the plant, which probably helps keep ants away.

you asked

Most asked questions about Southern green stink bug

?Is the southern green stink bug harmful?

Not to people. It is harmless, but it can damage bean and soybean crops.

?What does the southern green stink bug eat?

Plant sap, especially from beans and soybeans.

?How big is the southern green stink bug?

It is about 1.2 to 1.3 centimetres long. Females are a little bigger than males.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Nezara viridula
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Pentatomidae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Pentatomidae
Lives on
Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania
Also known as
Southern green shield bug, Green vegetable bug

Where the facts come from

  1. Nezara viridula (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 Didier Descouens. 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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