Diet

• Adults: Feed by piercing plant tissues with their straw-like mouthparts and sucking plant sap from leaves, stems, flowers and developing fruits.

• Nymphs: Also feed on plant juices and generally remain associated with vegetation while developing.

• The specific host plants of A. bifida are not particularly well documented, although Ascra species are associated with woody and herbaceous vegetation.

Range

• Ascra bifida is a stink bug (Pentatomidae) in the subfamily Edessinae, genus Ascra.

• It has a broad Neotropical distribution, occurring from the southern United States through Mexico and Central America and into parts of the Caribbean and South America.

• It is occasionally sighted in Zihua, where the warm climate and abundance of vegetation provide suitable habitat.

Habitat

• Associated with tropical dry forest, tropical deciduous forest, woodland, scrub, forest edges and human-altered areas.

• Ascra species are particularly associated with open environments, including both natural and disturbed habitats.

• Around Zihua, look carefully on shrubs, vines and trees, particularly where young foliage and developing fruits are present.

• Adults and nymphs may remain motionless on stems and leaves, where their muted colouration provides effective camouflage.

Size

• Adult length: approximately 15–25 mm (0.6–1.0 in).

• Body broad and somewhat flattened, with the characteristic shield-like form of stink bugs.

• The pronotum is distinctly raised or hump-backed, an important characteristic of Ascra.

• Colouration is generally brownish to reddish-brown, with darker and lighter areas that can make individuals blend into dry vegetation.