Shield-backed pine seed bug

Tetyra bipunctata (Herrich-Schäffer) (Hemiptera: Scutellaridae)

Orientation to pest

The shield-backed pine seed bug, Tetyra bipunctata (Herrich-Schäffer), feeds on seeds in cones of various pines and thus causes losses in seed orchards. There is one generation a year, and nymphs and adults feed in groups. Most damage to seeds is done in late summer or fall and is not visible, even after the seeds have been extracted from cones.

Hosts commonly attacked

This insect feeds on various pines, including loblolly (Pinus taeda L.), slash (Pinus elliottii Engelm.), shortleaf (Pinus echinata Mill.), Virginia (Pinus virginiana Mill.), eastern white (Pinus strobus L.), red (Pinus resinosa Sol. ex Aiton), jack (Pinus banksiana Lamb.), and sand (Pinus clausa [Chapm. ex Engelm.] Sarg.) pines.

Distribution

The shield-backed pine seed bug occurs from Virginia north to Ontario and Quebec and west to Minnesota and Oklahoma.

Images of shield-backed pine seed bug

John Maxwell Marlton, NJ, USA, Bugguide.net johnmaxwell22@hotmail.com - contact for permission 560x560	Texas Forest Service Archive, Texas Forest Service, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024	USDA Forest Service - Northeastern Area Archive, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024	Larry R. Barber, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024
Figure 1. Adult shield-backed pine seed bug	Figure 2. Eggs of shield-backed pine seed bug	Figure 3. Nymph of shield-backed pine seed bug	Figure 4. Shield-backed pine seed bug adults feeding on cones

Important biological control agents related to this pest species

Specific natural enemies of this species are unknown.

Web links for information on shield-backed pine seed bug

• Fact Sheet | ForestPests.org | USDA Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment Station

Articles

• DeBarr, G. L. 1979. Importance of the seedbugs Leptoglossus corculus (Say) (Hemiptera: Coreidae) and Tetyra bipunctata (H.-S.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) and their control in southern pine seed orchards. Proceedings: a symposium on flowering and seed development in trees. Starkville, Mississippi: Southern Forest Experiment Station, pp. 330-341.
• Gilbert, B. L., S. J. Barras, and D. M. Norris. 1967. Bionomics of Tetyra bipunctata (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae: Scutellerinae) as associated with Pinus banksiana in Wisconsin. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 60: 698-701.
• Goyer, R.A. and V. G. Williams.1981. The effects of feeding by Leptoglossus corculus (Say) and Tetyra bipunctata (Herrich and Schaffer) on loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L. ) conelets. Journal of Georgia Entomological Society 16: 16-21.
• Turgeon, J. J., P. de Groot, and J. D. Sweeney. 2005. Insects of seed cones in eastern Canada; field guide. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources/Forestry Canada, Toronto. 127 pp.