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Brown soldier bug - Cermatulus nasalis (Westwood, 1837)

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(Native to New Zealand)

ADULT: Main diagnostic characters

[Cermatulus nasalis]. SIZE: 9-12 mm. COLOUR: Yellowish brown, orange brown or reddish brown, with several pale and dark dorsal markings. © MWLR | CC BY-NC 4.0 Image
Cermatulus nasalis. SIZE: 9-12 mm. COLOUR: Yellowish brown, orange brown or reddish brown, with several pale and dark dorsal markings. © MWLR | CC BY-NC 4.0
ROSTRUM (beak): First segment thick, directed away from head, exposed, at most with its base lying between bucculae (ridges underneath head). © MWLR | CC BY-NC 4.0 Image
ROSTRUM (beak): First segment thick, directed away from head, exposed, at most with its base lying between bucculae (ridges underneath head). © MWLR | CC BY-NC 4.0
[Cermatulus nasalis]. HUMERI (pronotum hind corners) triangular-rounded, blunt. SIDES OF ABDOMEN with hind corner of segments square or rounded, blunt. © MWLR | CC BY-NC 4.0 Image
Cermatulus nasalis. HUMERI (pronotum hind corners) triangular-rounded, blunt. SIDES OF ABDOMEN with hind corner of segments square or rounded, blunt. © MWLR | CC BY-NC 4.0
[Cermatulus nasalis] ventral view. THORAX UNDERSIDE with ear-shaped scent gland opening between mid and hind legs. ABDOMEN UNDERSIDE with weak spine, extended forward only as far as base of hind legs. © MWLR | CC BY-NC 4.0 Image
Cermatulus nasalis ventral view. THORAX UNDERSIDE with ear-shaped scent gland opening between mid and hind legs. ABDOMEN UNDERSIDE with weak spine, extended forward only as far as base of hind legs. © MWLR | CC BY-NC 4.0

NYMPH: Main diagnostic characters

Immature stink bugs or nymphs moult through five stages (instars) before becoming adults; the fifth stage or last instar nymph is documented below.

[Cermatulus nasalis] last instar nymph. © Derivative of photo by J. Rolfe, New Zealand, used with permission (MWLR | CC BY-NC 4.0) Image
Cermatulus nasalis last instar nymph. © Derivative of photo by J. Rolfe, New Zealand, used with permission (MWLR | CC BY-NC 4.0)

BODY LENGTH: About 9 mm. COLOUR: Mostly black; thorax, wing pads with whitish outline; abdomen pale with black dots/marks, 2 large transverse black plates between a thin, broad plate and a small narrow plate near midline; legs dark with broad pale middle band; segments 1 and 4 of antennae black, segments 2-3 partly brownish yellow. WING PADS rounded at tip.