Bean Plataspid

Plataspidae; Plataspinae; Coptosoma obtusiceps Stål, 1871. I have shown adult Coptosoma obtusiceps in previous spottings (including copulating pairs and ovulating females). So it seemed rather natural (when I now had a plant with several egg rafts and nymphs starting to emerge) that I might try to document the life cycle of this bug. My idea was not overly ambitious, just a simple record of the different instars, step by step until they developed into adults. Needless to say, it did not go according to plan. As first instar nymphs emerged, they pretty much immediately wandered off, travelling all over their new found world which was this great thicket of Bean Vine. They showed no interest in forming peer groups and by the end of the first day of hatching, they were completely dispersed all over this dense, leafy plant. I occasionally saw one or two nymphs, in different stages of development and sometimes large groups which were obviously from several different egg rafts and represented the entire life cycle of instars, all mixed together. Of course, I realised that I had tried to document them without imposing any controls. So my little venture was doomed from the start. To do this properly, I would have to isolate one complete plant and introduce to it, one gravid female. I would need to ensure that no other specimens could gain access. Then I would have at least a starting point. I soon abandoned the whole idea because whilst it was a workable plan, it would have taken too much of my time, to the exclusion of all the other creatures I like to search for. So you see the result. A few loosely connected photos, but we can often learn from failure :-)