Crusader Bug

Mictis profana

"Mictis profana" is a species of insect in the family Coreidae known by the common names crusader bug and holy cross bug. It is distributed in Australia, Indonesia, and the Indo-Pacific. The insect can be seen in most habitat types, from urban areas to the coastal heath, except for the desert.
Crusader bug nymph development To the left are a few nymphs that were part of a larger grouping of very recently hatched nymphs. The second image was taken 2 hours and 50 minutes after the first, showing that the exoskeletons have darkened.

Crusader bugs feed on a wide range of plants, including wattles and eucalypts and also orchard plants (such as citrus) and garden plants (such as roses).

3 mm body length Australia,Coreidae,Crusader Bug,Geotagged,Hemiptera,Mictis profana,Mictis profana nymph,arthropod,crusader bug,fauna,heteroptera,holy cross bug,insect,invertebrate,macro,new south wales

Appearance

The adult is 20–25 mm long and 7–10 mm wide, stout, and grey to brown with a clear saltire in cream or yellow on its back. The legs are long and the shoulders of the pronotum project into short spines in adults and older nymphs. The hindmost legs are much thicker than the other legs, and the hind femur has inner rows of fine teeth and one preapical spine. The hindmost legs are shorter and much swollen in the male. The hind tibia are inwardly lamellate in about middle third; less so in the male, which also has a distinct spine on the lamellate area. Later instar nymphs have a pair of orange spots in the middle of the upper surface of abdomen, and wing pads in later instars are marked with orange.
Crusader bug nymphs: recently hatched As true bugs within order Hemiptera, by using their sucking mouthparts, crusader bugs feed on a wide range of plants including wattles and eucalypts, also non-natives such as orchard plants eg. citrus and garden plants eg, roses. 

An adult can reach 25 mm in length and is recognisable with a clear saltire on its back in light yellow contrasting to the rest of the dark brown/black body. 

The nymphs pictured here are 1st instars  recently out of their eggs and no more than 5 mm in length. The eggs were close by, on an adjoining leaf.  Australia,Coreidae,Crusader Bug,Geotagged,Mictis profana,Mictis profana nymph,Summer,arthropod,crusader bug,crusader bug nymph,fauna,hemiptera,heteroptera,holy cross bug,insect,invertebrate,macro,new south wales

Food

The species is polyphagous, and has been recorded feeding on a variety of native and introduced plants such as eucalypts, wattles, orchard trees such as citrus, and cultivated crops including grape, pawpaw, cowpea, tomato, beans, acacia and green gram.

References:

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Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderHemiptera
FamilyCoreidae
GenusMictis
SpeciesM. profana
Photographed in
Australia
Indonesia