Chlorochroa (Rhytidolomia) belfragii (Stål, 1872) and C. (R.) faceta (Say, 1825) are infrequently collected pentatomine stink bugs. They have been assumed to be grass feeders, but specific hosts in the Poaceae were unknown. During fieldwork (North Dakota to Oklahoma) from 2011 to 2014, nymphs and adults of C. belfragii were taken on a chloridoid grass, prairie cordgrass (Spartina pectinata Bosc ex Link), in saline wetlands. Chlorochroa faceta developed on another chloridoid, saltgrass (Distichlis spicata [L.] Greene), and was syntopic with C. belfragii in four saline wetlands in eastern Nebraska. Oklahoma is a new state record for C. faceta. Fieldwork and historical collection records indicate that both pentatomids are found mainly in inland saline communities. Because C. belfragii can be found in and under cordgrass leaf litter, the bug seldom can be collected by sweeping, which probably accounts for the small numbers of specimens in museum collections. Chlorochroa faceta can be collected by sweeping saltgrass when stems of this sod former mostly are erect rather than reclining (matforming). Color images of the fifth instar and adult of both pentatomids are provided.
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12 June 2015
Host Grasses of the Little-Known Stink Bugs Chlorochroa (Rhytidolomia) belfragii (Stål) and C. (R.) faceta (Say) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in Inland Saline Wetlands
A. G. Wheeler Jr.
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alkaline/saline soils
Distichlis spicata
distribution
halophytes
new records
prairie cordgrass
saltgrass