You might be able to find this week’s insect feeding on a cotton boll in one of North Carolina’s many cotton fields. Largus succinctus (Linnaeus) also feeds on the sap of oaks, wax myrtle and a variety of other plants. Do not fret if you do find this species on some of your plants! They cause little damage to plants, but they sometimes seek shelter in houses during the colder months (can’t blame them for wanting to stay warm).

Carl von Linnaeus first described this species under the name Cimex succinctus in 1763. In 1794, Fabricius transferred the genus to Lygaeus and in 1835 Burmeister transferred the genus to Largus. Linnaeus placed Largus succinctus in the family Pyrrhocoridae and was switched to Largidae in 1954 by China (see Henry, 1988).

The family Largidae “lacks ocelli, have a four-segmented rostrum, and the membrane of each hemelytron as seven to eight veins arising from two closed, basal cells” (Henry, 1998 and Arnett, 1993). Largus succinctus is about ½ inch long and distinguished by its slate blue color and yellowish-red markings on the margins of the shield behind the head and abdomen (Drees, 1998). As well, the trochanters and proximal ends of femora are orange to an orange-red (Halstead, 1972).

Females lay their eggs on host plants such as cotton and wax myrtle (Drees, 1998). At about 74˚ Fahrenheit it takes 10 days for the eggs to hatch, but longer at lower temperatures (Morrill, 1910). The nymphs develop into adults after several weeks having gone through 5 instars (Drees, 1998).

Largus succinctus is located as far northeast as New York, as far south as Florida, and as far west as Arizona (Arnett, 1993).

Arnett, R. H. “Largidae (Red Bug and Ant Mimic Bug Family).” American Insects- a Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico. Gainesville: The Sandhill Crane Press, 1993. 187.

Drees, B. M., and J. A. Jackman. “Largus Bug.” A Field Guide to Common Texas Insects. Houston: Gulf Publishing, 1998. 56.

Halstead, T.F. 1972. Notes and synonymy in Largus Hahn with a key to United Species (Hemiptera: Largidae). Pan-Pacific Entomologist 48:246-248.

Henry, T. J., and R. C. Froeschner. “Family Largidae Amyot and Serville, 1843 – The Largid Bugs.” Catalog of the Heteroptera, or True Bugs, of Canada and the Continental United States. New York: E.J. Brill, 1988. 159-160.

Taber, S. W., and S. B. Fleenor. “Largid Bug.” Insects of the Texas Lost Pines. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2003. 91-92.

Morrill, A. W. “Insects of the Cotton Stainer Family (Pyrrhocoridae) Injurious to Cotton – the Bordered Plant-Bug.” Plant-Bugs Injurious to Cotton Bolls. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1910. 94.