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Sticker of St. Andrew's cotton stainer
Bug card No. 4156 of 4,939

St. Andrew's cotton stainer

Dysdercus andreae
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasGardens and meadows6 legs

St. Andrew's cotton stainer is a red-orange bug with a black head, legs and wings. On its back there is a white X-shaped cross. That cross is called St. Andrew's cross, and it gives the bug its name.

Lives in
Islands of the Caribbean and North America
Length
0.7 to 1.4 cm (0.28 to 0.54 in)
Top speed
about 0.21 km/h (0.13 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. Farmers do not like it because it can harm cotton.
What does it eat?
It eats the seeds and fruits of a tree called the Pacific rosewood, and also cotton.
For real!Photo of St. Andrew's cotton stainer
Picture by Pburka. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

St. Andrew's cotton stainer about 1.4 cm long (0.54 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 2.5 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 17 seconds

How big is St. Andrew's cotton stainer compared to YOU?

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

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Hundreds of them can gather together in one big group.

2

It helps spread the seeds of the Pacific rosewood tree.

3

Each part of its tummy has a yellowish white band.

you asked

Most asked questions about St. Andrew's cotton stainer

?Why is it called St. Andrew's cotton stainer?

Because of the white X-shaped cross on its back, like St. Andrew's cross, and because it lives on cotton.

?Is St. Andrew's cotton stainer harmful?

Not to people, but it can be a pest on cotton farms.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Dysdercus andreae
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Pyrrhocoridae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Pyrrhocoridae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Dysdercus andreae (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 Pburka. CC BY-SA 4.0, 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.

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