Classification: | Phylum: Arthropoda | Class: Insecta | Order: Hemiptera | Family: Scutelleridae | Genus: Cantao |

Host plant: Mallotus paniculatus (Turn-in-the-wind)

In November 2015, I came across many of the nymphs crawling on the concrete floor and some on the pillars of the apartment block where I stayed. A number of them were on their back and motionless, presumably dead. Shortly, I traced the unusual appearance of the nymphs to a few fruiting Mallotus paniculatus trees on the edge of a park about 100 metres away from the apartment block. It was uncertain why some of the nymphs decided to leave the trees and move a long distance down a slope to a much dangerous place.

[2012] Leong TM, Lee BPY. Records and natural history of the ocellated shield bug, Cantao ocellatus (Thunberg) in Singapore, with observations on egg guarding, hatching, parasitoids, moulting, feeding, and mating (Hemiptera: scutelleridae: scutellerinae). Nature in Singapore 2012;5:249-262. | Read article |