Fitchana vitellina

Appearance

A fairly distinctively patterned orange species, with yellowish head, face, and anterior base of the pronotum; the head is moderately pointed. The eyes are greenish-yellow, and the legs are yellowish with darker coloration at the joints. The posterior half of the pronotum is orange-brown, sometimes with three pale longitudinal markings. The scutellum is yellowish with orange-brown basal corners. There is a thin black line on an otherwise yellow face, below the vertex margin. The forewings are orange-brown with pale speckling; the base of each clavus is a darker brown, and there is an oblique transverse brown band closer to the tips that forms a V. The male subgenital plates are short, triangular and pointed. The posterior margin of the female pregenital sternite has a large rounded lobe on either side of a short median projection. Adult males are 5.0 mm long, females are 6.0-6.5 mm although based on records collected in North Carolina, males can range to around 6.0 mm and females to 6.8 mm].

Naming

Fitchana vitellina
Platymetopius vitellinus
Described in 1851 by Fitch, who originally placed it in genus Acocephalus.

Distribution

Northeastern United States and southeastern Canada

Status

Uncommon to rare in Minnesota

Behavior

Can be attracted at night with a light.

Habitat

Has been found in forest edge, fields, meadows and lawns.

Food

Has been reported from blackberry and dewberry, on which it can cause leaves to curl and redden; also collected from grasses, sedges and shrubs.