Common cotton stainer bug
The common cotton stainer bug is a slim bug with a red head and chest. Its dark brown wings have cream edges that make a big cross pattern on its back. It loves to eat the seeds of cotton plants.
How big is it?
How long is it?
How big is Common cotton stainer bug compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
When it feeds on cotton, it stains the cotton fluff, which is how it got its name.
Its babies first live under the ground and then climb up onto plants.
The adults fly from one kind of plant to another as their seeds ripen.
It sometimes also eats caterpillars.
Most asked questions about Common cotton stainer bug
?Why is it called a cotton stainer?
Because when it feeds on cotton plants, it stains the cotton.
?Is the cotton stainer bug dangerous?
No. It is harmless to people, but it damages cotton crops.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Dysdercus suturellus
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Pyrrhocoridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Pyrrhocoridae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Dysdercus suturellus (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 Judy Gallagher. 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
Pharaoh cicada
Spotted lanternfly
Brown marmorated stink bug
Cochineal
Boxelder bug
Western conifer seed bug
Bright-line brown-eye
Winter gnat
Hairy-eyed flower fly
Riband wave
Batik golden web spider
Eastern heath snail