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Sweet Potato Bug
Physomerus grossipes
15.456, 119.921
Field Notes
Habitat:
These Sweet Potato Bugs (mother and nymphs) were spotted, in our backyard vegetable plot, on the leaves of a Sweet Potato Vine (Ipomoea batatas L.). In the Philippines, this vine is called Kamote. Plant information is from http://www.stuartxchange.org/Kamote.html.....
Notes:
When I spotted this female Sweet Potato Bug, with her babies, I had not previously noticed her presence on these leaves. So, I completely missed the opportunity of taking some photos of her guarding the eggs, but she was still keeping a close eye on these young nymphs (I think they are 2nd. instar) as they were starting to crawl around and explore their host plant. I don't mean to belittle the problem that "pests" like this can cause farmers, but I sometimes think that they are not eating our Sweet Potato vines. These bugs existed millions of years before Homo sapiens. Surely, we are the ones who are eating their Sweet Potato Vines! :-)
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