Eurydema

Eurydema

 

a genus of insects of the family Pentatomidae; dangerous pests of plants of the family Cruciferae. Their coloring is vivid and mottled: there are white, yellow, or red spots and stripes on a black, dark blue, or green background; seasonal color change occurs. Body length, 5-10 mm.

There are about 30 species, 13 of which are found in the USSR. They are distributed in Europe, Asia, and North Africa; in the USSR they are found everywhere, except the Far North. They damage such cultivated crops as cabbage, mustard, turnip, and yellow turnip. The rape shield-bug does damage in the forest zone of European USSR and Western Siberia; the mustard bug (Eurydema ornata) and the cabbage bug (E. ventralis) cause damage in the south of the European USSR; E. maracandica and E. willkinsi live in Middle Asia; E. gebleri and E. dominulus, in Siberia and the Far East. Control measures are agrotechnical and chemical (insecticides).