{"id":12823,"date":"2022-03-02T09:50:27","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T15:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/?p=12823"},"modified":"2022-03-02T09:51:51","modified_gmt":"2022-03-02T15:51:51","slug":"western-conifer-seed-bug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/western-conifer-seed-bug\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Conifer Seed Bug"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: All links below go to external sites.<\/em><\/p>\n

Howdy, BugFans,<\/p>\n

February 28 to March 4 is National Invasive Species Awareness Week.<\/p>\n

\"WesternThe word \u201cinvasive\u201d is often used interchangeably with the words \u201calien,\u201d \u201cexotic,\u201d \u201cnon-native,\u201d and \u201cintroduced,\u201d but they are not synonymous.\u00a0 Alien, exotic, non-native, and introduced all simply mean that an organism isn\u2019t from around here, but the vast majority of non-native species have no plans for world domination.\u00a0 Invasive organisms do.\u00a0 These are plants and animals that got here – somehow \u2013 leaving their home-town systems of checks and balances behind, and their booming populations damage their new ecosystems and evict the natives.\u00a0 Invasives don\u2019t need to come from the other side of the world \u2013 aggressive rusty crayfish that originated in the Southern US now out-eat and out-compete native crayfish<\/a> in Wisconsin\u00a0and damage habitat while they\u2019re doing it.<\/p>\n

Way back in 2011, the BugLady said a few words about Western Conifer Seed Bugs in a survey of the leaf-footed bugs<\/a>.\u00a0 The WCSB doesn\u2019t rise to the definition of invasive, but it\u2019s unwelcome in much of its range.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t kill the trees it feeds on or otherwise alter the landscape, but if you\u2019re after 100% seed production, this is not your bug.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the rest of the story.<\/p>\n

\"WesternWestern Conifer Seed Bugs (Leptoglossus<\/i><\/span>\u00a0occidentalis<\/i><\/span>) (aka Pine seed bugs) are in the True bug order Hemiptera (\u201chalf-wing,\u201d a reference<\/a> to the two different textures of the front wings ) and in the Leaf-footed bug family Coreidae, a large family of sometimes-dramatic-looking, sap-sucking insects<\/a> with pretty cute little nymphs<\/a>. \u00a0Coreids produce a buzzing sound in flight and an odor when provoked.<\/p>\n

WCSBs are native to this continent, but their original range was mostly on the far side of the Rockies.\u00a0 They started moving east about 70 years ago (with the help of interstate commerce), reaching Michigan in 1987 and Pennsylvania in 1992, and they are now common throughout much of North America except the far Southeast.\u00a0 They\u2019ve also managed to cross The Pond, were recorded in Italy in 1999 (where they\u2019ve taken a liking to the culinary pine nut industry, with disastrous results), and are now spread throughout Europe and Asia.\u00a0 Look for them in conifer trees and (like Asian multi-colored ladybugs, Box elder bugs, and now Brown marmorated stink bugs) lined up to come inside in fall.\u00a0 They\u2019re presently working on expansion south of the border.<\/p>\n

\"WesternThat kind of range expansion is only possible for a generalist feeder that can be sure of finding something to eat wherever it lands.\u00a0 WCSBs feed on the sap from the developing seeds and flowers of about 40 species of conifers including fir, hemlock, spruce and pine trees (the BugLady included a picture of the female flower of a Norway spruce because they\u2019re just so spectacular).\u00a0 They also sip sap from conifer twigs and needles, and they may move to non-coniferous trees if times are tough.\u00a0 They puncture the plant with piercing-sucking<\/a> mouthparts that they tuck in under their body when not in use, and when they pierce a twig\/seed\/flower, they inject digestive juices that soften the plant material so they can suck it out.\u00a0 Many of their favored trees protect themselves from grazing by producing terpenes, which deter the WCSB not a bit.<\/p>\n

WCSBs locate their food with the help of infrared sensors on their abdomens.\u00a0 The growing reproductive tissue in cones emits infrared radiation (whether mechanical or metabolic is not clear) that makes them hotter \u2013 by as much as 60 degrees F \u2013 than the surrounding needles, and the bugs\u2019 sensors can \u201csee\u201d that!\u00a0 An infrared photo of a conifer with developing cones has been likened by several researchers to a lit-up Christmas tree<\/a>. \u00a0The WCSB is not the only insect with this super power.\u00a0 The BugLady is blown away by both the bug and the plant sides of this.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re about \u00be\u201d long, and adults come in a variety of shades of brown<\/a>.\u00a0 Nymphs are orange-ish<\/a>, especially right after they molt.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s only one generation per year in much of its range.\u00a0 Eggs<\/a> are laid in rows along needles, and when the nymphs hatch in about 10 days, they start extracting sap from the most tender parts of the cone.\u00a0 Nymphs grow and molt throughout summer, becoming adults on their final (5th<\/sup>) molt in late August.<\/p>\n

Adults feed on seeds through early fall and then start considering their winter options.\u00a0 In the wild, these include crevices under bark or in soft, dead trees, or in bird or rodent nests.\u00a0 Whether indoors or out, WCSBs overwinter in a state called diapause, a suspended animation where development is stalled.\u00a0 They prepare for diapause in fall by stocking up on nutrients like fats, carbs, and proteins that not only help them enter it but give them enough energy to come out of it at the end of winter.\u00a0 Adults emerge from their winter abodes in spring and feed on developing conifer seeds and flowers, and the beat goes on.<\/p>\n

Sources seemed to agree that while this might be considered a minor tree pest, it\u2019s a bigger human pest. When the autumn air starts to chill, urban and suburban WCSBs gather on sunny southern exposures and start moving inside.\u00a0 Male aggregation pheromones may call hundreds of their confreres to a potential winter home (the BugLady has never seen more than a few WCSBs at one time in any season).<\/p>\n

As winter houseguests they get mixed reviews.\u00a0 Notwithstanding some people\u2019s (inexplicable) aversion to having six-legged housemates, WCSBs rarely bite or sting (the occasional poke has been recorded) or eat the drapes or the dogfood or the houseplants (and so they don\u2019t poop), they don\u2019t reproduce or carry any diseases, and they pack up and leave in spring.\u00a0 But when bothered, they may release an odor (a combination of hexanal and hexyl acetate) that most sources described as pungent, foul-smelling, and noxious, but that one source described it as \u201cpiney\u201d or \u201cvanilla-like.\u201d \u00a0Once they\u2019re inside, it\u2019s hard to get them out, so an ounce of prevention (in the form of sealing leaks in windows, eaves, etc.) is worth a pound of cure.<\/p>\n

Thanks to BugFan Elaine for suggesting this one.<\/p>\n

The BugLady<\/i><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: All links below go to external sites. Howdy, BugFans, February 28 to March 4 is National Invasive Species Awareness Week. 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