Saint Andrew's Cotton Stainer: Damaging Pest or Colorful Curiosity?

Abstract

Two gifts I've acquired over the years as a field forest entomologist are an insatiable curiosity and keen observation skills. As a result, it seems that I can't go anywhere without encountering at least one interesting insect. This was the case on a recent trip that my wife, Pat, and I made to Nevis (St. Kitts and Nevis), a tiny island of about 93 km2 (36 square miles), located east of the U.S. and British Virgin Islands in the Lesser Antilles. Early one morning, I noted a pair of coupled plant bugs, red and black in color, walking across the sand at Ouallie Beach, on the northwestern corner of the island. Their overall shape and color pattern reminded me of either milkweed bugs, Oncopeltus fasciatus (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae), or box elder bugs, Boisea trivittata (Hemiptera: Rhopalidae). I had already seen patches of giant milkweed, Calotropis procera , growing along the beach, but I knew that O. facsiatus was unable to penetrate the relatively thick seed pods of this species and, therefore, was unlikely to occur here. Moreover, we were way south of the natural range of box elder, Acer negundo , the principal host plant of box elder bug. This had to be an insect that was new, at least to me. Two days later, I found more of the colorful bugs. This time, they were on the seed pods of a large woody shrub that produced conspicuous yellow flowers. Later that day, I learned the identity of the plant: Thespesia populnea , commonly known as portia tree, seaside mahoe, or Indian tulip. With the identity of the plant in hand, a quick search on …