Cereal Leaf Beetle vs Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Cereal Leaf Beetle Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
Scientific Name Oulema melanopus Halyomorpha halys
Order Coleoptera Hemiptera
Family Chrysomelidae Pentatomidae
Size 4-5 mm 12-17 mm
Habitat Farmland Farmland
Diet Seed Feeders Fruit Feeders
Regions Europe, North America (invasive), Asia Asia, North America, Europe
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Cereal Leaf Beetle

A small beetle with metallic blue-black elytra and a red-orange thorax. Its larvae strip the upper leaf surface of cereal crops.

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Did You Know?

Larvae carry a shield of their own faeces on their backs to deter predators and prevent desiccation.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

A shield-shaped brown bug with marbled patterning and distinctive white-banded antennae. Native to East Asia, it has become a devastating invasive agricultural pest on multiple continents.

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Did You Know?

This stink bug releases a pungent chemical from thoracic glands when disturbed, and a single house can harbor over 25,000 overwintering adults in its wall voids.