Banasa stink bug

(Banasa dimidiata)

Conservation Status
Banasa stink bug
Photo by Alfredo Colon
  IUCN Red List

not listed

 
  NatureServe

not listed

 
  Minnesota

not listed

 
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Banasa stink bug is a colorful, relatively small, 5 16 to 7 16 long stink bug. It is common and widespread in the United States.

The color is highly variable. The plate over the first thoracic segment (pronotum) is light green toward the head, burgundy-red toward the abdomen. The plate over the second thoracic segment (scutellum) is large, triangular, and often green with a light green spot at the tip. Sometimes the scutellum is flushed with burgundy-red, sometimes completely burgundy-red. The spot is always at least partly light green.

There are two pairs of wings. The forewings (hemelytra) are longer than and cover the hind wings. They have a thickened section at the base (corium) and a thin membranous section at the tip with a clear dividing line between the two. The corium may be green, green flushed with burgundy-red, or completely burgundy-red. The hindwings are thin and membranous.

The head is reddish and has darker punctures.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

Total length: 5 16 to 7 16

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat
 
 

 

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Season

 
 

June to October

 
     
 

Behavior

 
 

 

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

 

 
     
 

Nymph Food

 
 

A variety of trees and shrubs

 
     
 

Adult Food

 
 

A variety of trees and shrubs

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

7, 24, 27, 29, 30, 82.

 
  7/12/2022      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Widespread and very common

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
 

Order

Hemiptera (true bugs, hoppers, aphids, and allies)  
 

Suborder

Heteroptera (true bugs)  
 

Infraorder

Pentatomomorpha (pentatomomorph bugs)  
 

Superfamily

Pentatomoidea (stink bugs, shield bugs, and allies)  
 

Family

Pentatomidae (stink bugs)  
 

Subfamily

Pentatominae  
  Tribe Pentatomini  
 

Genus

Banasa  
       
 

This insect was called Banasa dimiata when it was first described in 1832. In 1859 it was renamed Banasa dimidiata. The latter word translates to “divided in half”, and refers to the bi-colored pronotum. Not all sources have accepted the name change, and both names are in use today.

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Banasa dimiata

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

Banasa stink bug

green burgundy stink bug

red-backed stink bug

 
       
 

The term Banasa refers to a colony in Mauritania. It is a pronoun and therefore capitalized.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Corium

The thickened basal portion of the front wing that lies between the clavus and the membrane of insects in the family Hemiptera. Plural: coria.

 

Hemelytron

The forewing of true bugs (Order Hemiptera), thickened at the base and membranous at the tip. Plural: hemelytra.

 

Pronotum

The exoskeletal plate on the upper side of the first segment of the thorax of an insect.

 

Scutellum

The exoskeletal plate covering the rearward (posterior) part of the middle segment of the thorax in some insects. In Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Homoptera, the dorsal, often triangular plate behind the pronotum and between the bases of the front wings. In Diptera, the exoskeletal plate between the abdomen and the thorax.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Visitor Photos
 
           
 

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Molly Stoddard

 
    Banasa stink bug   Banasa stink bug  
 

Casey

 
 

Found on the wall in our house, never seen one before

 
    Banasa stink bug      
 

Alfredo Colon

 
    Banasa stink bug      
 

Toby Thaler

 
 

Highly certain of ID. Matches size and photos very closely.

 
    Banasa stink bug      
 

Lonnie Olson

 
    Banasa stink bug      
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

 

 
           

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
Banasa Stink Bug - Banasa dimiata
Joseph Berger
  Banasa Stink Bug - Banasa dimiata  

 

slideshow

       
 
Visitor Videos
 
       
 

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Other Videos
 
  red backed stink bug (Banasa dimidiata)
Suzanne Tegroen
 
   
 
About

Published on May 20, 2013

 
  Banasa dimiata
wetvideocamera
 
   
 
About

Published on May 8, 2013

Shield Bug , Stink Bug - several found one morning in May on a wall. May 6, 2013

 
  Banasa dimiata
wetvideocamera
 
   
 
About

Published on Jun 11, 2012

Stink Bugs - Commonly seen in the Spring among trees and shrubs. They may survive the winter in covered areas. I have never actually noticed the "stink" of these bugs. Perhaps because they are garden pests is why gardeners say they stink ?

 
  Stinkbug - Pre-Flight Check
wetvideocamera
 
   
 
About

Published on Sep 21, 2012

Stinkbug doing a Pre-Flight Check
( Banasa dimiata ) September 20, 2012

 

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this insect.

 
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Be sure to include a location.
 
  Molly Stoddard
7/7/2022

Location: Fergus Falls, MN

I have a few photos if needed. 

Banasa stink bug  
  Casey
7/25/2020

Location: Otsego, MN

Found on the wall in our house, never seen one before

Banasa stink bug  
  Alfredo Colon
8/14/2019

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota

Banasa stink bug  
  Toby Thaler
7/21/2019

Location: Seattle (Fremont neighborhood), on leaves of Himalayan blackberries (an invasive that is everywhere).

Highly certain of ID. Matches size and photos very closely.

Banasa stink bug  
  Lonnie Olson
7/27/2018

Location: Grant county. Elbow Lake

Banasa stink bug  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
   

 

 

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Created 7/29/2018

Last Updated:

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