Diet

• Adults and nymphs: Primarily seed-feeding, using their piercing-sucking mouthparts to feed on seeds and developing plant tissues.

• It has been recorded on a relatively broad range of plants, including coconut (Cocos nucifera), milkweed (Asclepias curassavica), sweet potato, banana, maize, grasses, peppers and tomatoes.

Range

• Ochrostomus pulchellus is a seed bug in the Family Lygaeidae, Subfamily Lygaeinae, Tribe Lygaeini.

• It is a broadly distributed Neotropical species, occurring through Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and parts of northern and central South America.

• Around Zihua, it would be considered occasional, with suitable habitat provided by warm, lowland vegetation and the wide variety of potential host plants.

Habitat

• Occurs in tropical and subtropical habitats, including forest edges, scrub, agricultural land, gardens, roadsides and other areas supporting its host plants.

• It can utilisz both wild vegetation and cultivated plants, which helps explain its broad geographic distribution.

• In Mexico, records span a variety of lowland and upland environments, suggesting considerable ecological flexibility.

Size

• Ochrostomus pulchellus is a medium-sized seed bug, with an elongated body typical of Lygaeinae.

• It has a particularly striking red, white and dark-brown colour pattern.

• The head is dark brown with a contrasting pale basal marking.

• The pronotum has dark brown calli and broad dark markings, contrasting with pale and reddish areas.

• The forewings have a distinctive combination of white, reddish and dark-brown areas, making this one of the more conspicuously patterned lygaeid species.