Appearance

Appearance

Adults are about 0.55–0.67 in (14–17 mm) long, slender, and dark brown to reddish brown. The hind thighs are thick and spiny, while young nymphs have an ant-like outline and movement.

Look-alikes

Where it lives

Typical habitats

• soybean fields
• legume patches
• field margins
• leaf litter in winter

Range

Published records place this species in East, South, and Southeast Asia. Whether it has an established U.S. population is unclear.

Preferred conditions

It is active around legumes during warm weather. Adults shelter in protected ground cover such as leaf litter for winter.

Behavior

Diet

Adults and nymphs pierce pods and seeds, especially on soybeans and other legumes, and drink plant fluids.

Activity

In Korean field studies, adults appeared in spring and were most abundant in soybean fields in late summer.

Social life

Males release an aggregation pheromone that can draw both adults and nymphs together.

Overwintering

Adults overwinter, and South Korean field work found leaf litter to be an important shelter.

Life cycle

Breeding season

In southwestern Japan, the species can pass through three generations in a year.

Larva

After the egg stage, it passes through five wingless nymph stages before becoming an adult. The youngest nymphs are the most ant-like.

Connected species

Ties with other wildlife

Tiny parasitoid wasps attack its eggs in Asian farm fields.

Parasitoids

• Ooencyrtus nezarae

  This tiny wasp lays its eggs in soybean bug eggs in Asian farm fields.

Food plants

• soybeanGlycine max

  Adults and nymphs feed on developing soybean pods and seeds in Asian fields.

Name and classification

About the name

Older sources also call this species Riptortus clavatus.

Conservation

IUCN Red List

NENot Evaluated·Not yet assessed

Threats

Feeding on developing soybean pods can cause pod drop and flattened or misshapen seeds.