Tessaratoma papillosa
| Tessaratoma papillosa | |
|---|---|
| Adult (top), nymph (bottom) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hemiptera |
| Suborder: | Heteroptera |
| Family: | Tessaratomidae |
| Genus: | Tessaratoma |
| Species: | T. papillosa |
| Binomial name | |
| Tessaratoma papillosa (Drury, 1770) | |
Tessaratoma papillosa, the lychee giant stink bug, is a species of bug in the family Tessaratomidae. It is found in Indomalaya, Australasia, and Eastern Asia.
It feeds on the buds, shoots, flower sprigs, and fruits of lychee and longan trees using its piercing and sucking mouthparts. This feeding can cause major damage to the tree, causing its fruits and flowers to drop off and the withering of twigs and fruits. A tree that is fed upon by many T. papillosa may experienced retarded growth or even death. For this reason, T. papillosa is considered an agricultural pest, causing considerable economic losses for farmers in affected regions.