''Acanthaspis quinquespinosa'' is a species of

assassin bug The Reduviidae is a large cosmopolitan family of the suborder Heteroptera of the order Hemiptera (true bugs). Among the Hemiptera and together with the Nabidae almost all species are terrestrial ambush predators; most other predatory Hemiptera ...

found in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal and Tibet. It is a predator, and both nymphs and adults feed on termites, beetles, caterpillars and other insect prey.

Description

The adult ''Acanthaspis quinquespinosa'' is a warningly-coloured, winged assassin bug that varies in appearance depending on the habitat in which it occurs. The overall colour is dark brown to black, with a reddish-brown abdomen and legs, and yellowish spots on the pronotum and fore-wings. There are two spines or prominent tubercles near the centre of the posterior lobe of the pronotum, and two long spines at the posterior margin; the scutellum bears a single spine at its apex. The insects are about long, with males being somewhat smaller than females. It is a common species; the colouring is similar to that of ''

Acanthaspis angularis ''Acanthaspis'' Amyot & Serville, 1843, is a genus of assassin bugs. Members of the genus are known to disguise themselves by attaching bits of debris to aid in camouflage. Partial species list *'' Acanthaspis alagiriensis'' Murugan & Livingsto ...

'' and ''

Acanthaspis flavipes ''Acanthaspis'' Amyot & Serville, 1843, is a genus of assassin bugs. Members of the genus are known to disguise themselves by attaching bits of debris to aid in camouflage. Partial species list *'' Acanthaspis alagiriensis'' Murugan & Livingsto ...

'', but they can be distinguished by differences in the male genitalia.

Distribution and habitat

''Acanthaspis quinquespinosa'' is native to India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Tibet. It occurs in a number of different habitats including tropical rainforest, scrub-jungle and semiarid agricultural areas. Among the insects on which it feeds are various crop pests and it has been found on

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

and

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

. It is generally found near ground level, hiding underneath stones or the bark of fallen trees.

Ecology

''A. quinquespinosa'' is a ground-dwelling

predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

with a wide range of prey, and is mostly active at dawn and dusk. Crop pests on which it preys include the beet armyworm '' Laphygma exigua'', the blister beetle '' Mylabris purtulata'', the termite ''

Odontotermes wallonensis ''Odontotermes'' is a termite genus belonging to subfamily Macrotermitinae (fungus-growing termites), which is native to the Old World. They are most destructive in wooden homes, and are agricultural pests in the tropics and subtropics of Africa ...

'', the cotton-stainer bugs ''

Dysdercus koenigii ''Dysdercus koenigii'' is a species of true bug in the family Pyrrhocoridae, commonly known as the red cotton stainer. It is a serious pest of cotton crops, the adults and older nymphs feeding on the emerging bolls and the cotton seeds as they ...

'' and ''

Oxycarenus laetus ''Oxycarenus laetus'', commonly known as the dusky cotton bug, is a species of plant bug belonging to the family Lygaeidae. It is sometimes known as the Egyptian cotton stainer, and is found in southern Asia where it is a pest of cotton, okra an ...

'', the American bollworm ''

Helicoverpa armigera ''Helicoverpa armigera'' is a species of Lepidoptera in the family Noctuidae. It is known as the cotton bollworm, corn earworm, Old World (African) bollworm, or scarce bordered straw (the lattermost in the UK, where it is a migrant). The larvae ...

'', the leaf caterpillar ''

Spodoptera litura ''Spodoptera litura'', otherwise known as the tobacco cutworm or cotton leafworm, is a nocturnal moth in the family Noctuidae. ''S. litura'' is a serious polyphagous pest in Asia, Oceania, and the Indian subcontinent that was first described by ...

'', the pink bollworm '' Pectinophora gossypiella'' and the rice moth '' Corcyra cephalonica''. Males have a shorter lifespan than females. One of its prey species is the termite ''

Coptotermes heimi ''Coptotermes heimi'' is a species of termite in the family Heterotermitidae. It is found in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and lives wholly underground. Distribution and habitat ''Coptotermes heimi'' occurs in Pakistan, the Indian states of Raj ...

''; in feeding experiments it was found that when this termite was plentiful, the bug could kill and eat forty termites in a day.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q104870553 Reduviidae Hemiptera of Asia Insects described in 1781 Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius