What's this bug?? It's freaky with a cross butt!! INSECTS!!
6We found a bug at the park in Victoria BC on the Westcoast in Canada!! On further investigation and peoples comments, we think it is actually a Stink Bug!
I searched Google Images for:
tiny cross abdomen bug beetle shield
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bug
Description
The stink glands are located on the underside of the thorax, between the first and second pair of legs, and on the dorsal surface of the abdomen.[7]
The adults are approximately 1.7 cm (0.67 in) long and about as wide, forming the shield shape characteristic of other stink bugs. They are various shades of brown on both the top and undersides, with gray, off-white, black, copper, and bluish markings.
The term "marmorated" means variegated or veined like marble.[8] Markings unique to this species include alternating light bands on the antennae and alternating dark bands on the thin outer edge of the abdomen. The legs are brown with faint white mottling or banding.
Behavior
File:Insights-into-the-Saliva-of-the-Brown-Marmorated-Stink-Bug-Halyomorpha-halys-(Hemiptera-pone.0088483.s005.ogv
A brown marmorated stink bug on a tomato fruit
The odor from the stink bug is due to trans-2-decenal and trans-2-octenal.[9] The smell has been characterized as a "pungent odor that smells like coriander."[4] The stink bug's ability to emit an odor through holes in its abdomen is a defense mechanism meant to prevent it from being eaten by birds and lizards. However, simply handling the bug, injuring it, or attempting to move it can trigger it to release the odor.
During courtship, the male emits pheromones and vibrational signals to communicate with a female, which replies with her own vibrational signals, as in all stink bugs. The insects use the signals to recognize and locate each other. Vibrational signals of this species are noted for their low frequency, and one male signal type is much longer than any other previously described signals in stink bugs, although the significance of this is not yet clear.[10]
The brown marmorated stink bug is a sucking insect (like all Hemiptera or "true bugs") that uses its proboscis to pierce the host plant to feed. This feeding results, in part, in the formation of dimpled or necrotic areas on the outer surface of fruits, leaf stippling, seed loss, and possible transmission of plant pathogens. It is an agricultural pest that can cause widespread damage to fruit and vegetable crops. In Japan, it is a pest to soybean and fruit crops. In the U.S., the brown marmorated stink bug feeds, beginning in late May or early June, on a wide range of fruits, vegetables, and other host plants including peaches, apples, green beans, soybeans, cherries, raspberries, and pears.
In North America
The brown marmorated stink bug was accidentally introduced into the United States from China or Japan. It is believed to have hitched a ride as a stowaway in packing crates or on various types of machinery. The first documented specimen was collected in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in September 1998.[3][11] Several Muhlenberg College students were reported to have seen these bugs as early as August of that same year.[12][13] Between 2001 and 2010, 54 sightings were reported of these bugs at shipping ports in the United States.[14] However, stink bugs are not listed as reportable, meaning that they do not need to be reported and no action is required to remove the insect. This allowed the insect to enter the United States relatively easily, as they are able to survive long periods of time in hot or cold conditions.
Other reports have the brown marmorated stink bug documented as early as 2000 in New Jersey from a blacklight trap run by the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Vegetable Integrated Pest Management program in Milford, New Jersey.[15]
In 2002, in New Jersey, it was found on plant material in Stewartsville, and was collected from blacklight traps in Phillipsburg and Little York. It was quickly documented and established in many counties in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, and New York on the eastern coast of the United States.
By 2009, this agricultural pest had reached Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, and Oregon.[16] In 2010 this pest was found in additional states including Indiana,[17] Michigan,[18] Minnesota,[19] and other states.[20]
As of November 2011, it had spread to 34 U.S. states[4] and by 2012 to 40, and showed an increase of 60% in total numbers over 2011.[21]
Their populations have also spread to southern Ontario and Quebec, Canada.[22][23]