Yeah, this morning I found another unique insect on a chili plant. It's a leaf-footed bug, known in Latin as Acanthocoris scaber, and belongs to the order Hemiptera. It's a lucky insect, with its coloration making it easy to camouflage. It's a dull brown, a color that closely matches the chili stems.
I've found this insect on chili plants several times before, but I wasn't able to photograph it because they had already fled before I got close. Besides fleeing when approached, it also often emits a foul odor that can be dizzying. When I found this one, it was alone, it didn't flee, but instead emitted a foul odor.
In the wild, this insect is very beneficial to the ecosystem as part of the web of life. It can be a snack for predators. However, it's important to understand that while beneficial to the ecosystem, when it comes to cultivated plants, it becomes a pest. It sucks the sap from the plants it lands on, which automatically causes the plants to slowly die.
| Latin name | Acanthocoris scaber |
|---|---|
| Observation date | 30 Agt, 2025 |
| Camera used | realme 7 Pro |
| Photographers | @reachdreams |
| Location | Aceh, Indonesia |
| Link to original community |
|---|
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/310109965
| Latitude | Longitude | Map |
|---|---|---|
| 4.695135 | 96.7493993 | https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=4.695135&mlon=96.7493993 |