General Information

COMMON NAMES: Red Bug, Soapberry Bug GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Australia (Queensland) - (recently) Cooks - Tuamotu COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native but recent; S.Group only (Rarotonga only); Land, horticultural SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Potential pest on Sapindaceae, such as Lychee

Cook Islands Distribution

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Southern Group: Present    Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
++

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Leptocoris rufomarginatus (Fabricius, 1794)
TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; ATELOCERATA; HEXAPODA; INSECTA; PTERYGOTA; Hemiptera; Heteroptera; RHOPALIDAE

GENERAL NOTE: An Australian relative Leptocoris tagalicus has adopted the introduced sapind Balloon Vine (Cardiospermum grandiflorum) and feeds on its seeds. Leptocoris rufomarginatus, has a suitable "beak" and might also eventually make a similar "host shift". These soapberry bugs also feed on useful plants such as Lychee [after Carroll et.al. (2005) Ecology of Leptocoris Hahn (Hemiptera: Rhopalidae) soapberry bugs in Australia, Aust. J. Entomology 44:344-353; and Carroll email 2005/Dec/07] Carroll email 2005/Dec/07: "One New World soapberry bug, Jadera haematoloma, was introduced by airplane it appears to Hawaii in about 1970, It quickly spread to several of the islands, and has adopted two native Sapindus as well as C. grandiflorum and Koelreuteria elegans, both of weedy potential there. It is a species that naturally uses Cardiospermum, and may geographically be your nearest seed predator."

Vouchers:
Rarotonga specimen+photo, 2004, G.McCormack ID via Pestnest as Leptocornis sp. Dr M. Malipatil (Aust.) and Graham Brown (Aust.), and as Leptocoris rufomarginatus by Scott Carroll email 2005Dec06.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB05a, zupB05b, zM05a

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