''Nysius raphanus'' (also known as the false chinch bug) is a small (no more than inch) North American

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

in the order Hemiptera and family

Lygaeidae The Lygaeidae are a family in the Hemiptera (true bugs), with more than 110 genera in four subfamilies. The family is commonly referred to as seed bugs, and less commonly, milkweed bugs, or ground bugs. However, while many of the species feed on ...

. They are grey to brown in color, with largely transparent wings, and can release an offensive odor similar to stinkbugs. They have no larval stage, instead going through several

nymph A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ty ...

stages with the nymphs resembling adults but having no wings. In high numbers false chinch bugs can cause significant plant damage.

References

Backyard Gardener - False Chinch Bugs, June 6, 2001

False chinch bugs

External links

raphanus ''Raphanus'' (Latin for "radish") is a genus within the flowering plant family Brassicaceae. Carl Linnaeus described three species within the genus: the cultivated radish (''Raphanus sativus''), the wild radish or jointed charlock ('' Raphanus r ...

Hemiptera of North America Insects described in 1872 {{Pentatomomorpha-stub