Concheula: Appearance, Territory, Damage and Life

Latin name: Chlorochroa Ligata

Appearance: The Conchuela stink bug is a huge bug, measuring up to 15 mm (0.6 inches) in length. Adults have a characteristic red border and a red patch towards the tip of their abdomen, and are dark green to black in colour. In the north, these stink bugs are green, while in the south, they are black.

Host Plants: Normally, populations are restricted to the field’s edges, but when numbers are high, they can be found all around the field. Sage, yucca, mustards, and prickly pear are among the other hosts. Tomatoes, grapes, and peas are among their favourite foods. On a sorghum panicle, Conchuela stink bugs.

Territory: The most frequent stink insect in New Mexico cotton is the Conchuela stink bug (Chlorochroa ligata). Outside of the arid/semi-arid western United States and Mexico, it has a wide distribution but is not widespread.

Damage Caused: Stink bugs damage cotton by piercing tiny to medium sized bolls and feeding on the developing seeds with their piercing-sucking mouthparts. Stink bugs like Conchuela are ravenous eaters. Multiple adults or nymphs eating on the same boll is common. Infestations of stink bugs can cost growers a lot of money in the form of lower yields, lower fiber quality, and management costs.

Stink bugs prefer medium-sized bolls, but they can eat any size of boll. Stink bugs will eat bolls that are 25 days or older. When they eat young bolls, the bolls usually shed. Stink bug feeding on larger bolls often results in dark blotches on the outside of the bolls that are about 1/16-inch in diameter. Internal damage (callus growths/warts or stained lint) does not correspond well with these dark areas. Without internal nutrition, a boll may have multiple spots. Damage to the inside boll wall indicates that lint and seed have been harmed. Cotton yields are lowered, lint is discoloured, colour grades are poor, and physical fiber quality is reduced as a result of excessive stink bug feeding. Stink bug eating can spread plant infections that cause boll rot, in addition to causing direct harm.

Life Cycle and Habits: Conchuela stink bugs hibernate as adults over the winter and emerge in the spring to feed, mate, and lay eggs. Females lay their eggs in clusters of about 50 eggs on the undersides of leaves. They go through five nymph instars, each lasting 5-7 days, in order to complete their metamorphosis. Each year, there are multiple generations.