Ptyelus grossus - Rain-tree bug

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Ptyelus grossus
Ptyelus grossus

Photo(s): Bart Wursten, National Botanic Garden, Harare.

Species details:

Note: Larvae and nymphs of this species are highly gregarious. While feeding on the sap of certain tree species they excrete a foamy liquid that forms protective nests around them. Numbers of these nymphs can by so high in a single tree that the excessive excretions can drip onto the soil below the tree and may form wet patches or even small puddles.
Distribution: Widespread in tropical and Southern Africa.
Related plant families:
Related plant genera:
Related plant species:
Fabaceae subfamily PapilionoideaePhilenoptera violacea (Food plant of larvae and nymphs)
Literature: Picker, M., Griffiths, C. & Weaving, A. (2002), Field guide to Insects of South Africa, Struik Publishers, Cape Town, p. 154.
Also see Note 20 for more information.

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2014-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Botswana: Hemiptera - True Bugs: Ptyelus grossus .
https://www.botswanaflora.com/speciesdata/insect-display.php?insect_species_id=402500, retrieved 28 March 2024

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