Leaf-footed bug (Cletus trigonus)

The biggest advantage of gardening in a village environment is that you get to meet new insects every day. Today, I will introduce you to a strangely shaped brown insect, which I took a picture of in my own garden.

Name and identification:
After taking the picture, I used iNaturalist, a reliable insect identification app, to find out its exact identity. Its scientific name is Cletus trigonus. According to the classification of scientists, it is a member of the 'Coreidae' family and its genus or genus is Cletus. In English, they are usually called 'Leaf-footed bug' or leaf-footed bug.

Habitat and habitat:
The native habitat of this species of insects is mainly in our Asian continent. They are especially seen in various countries of Southeast Asia, including India and Bangladesh. Their main habitat is shrubs, crop fields and gardens of various leguminous plants. However, sometimes they fly and sit on ordinary trees near the house and rest.

​Food:
They do not bite or chew leaves like other insects. If you look at their mouth, you will see that they have a long needle-like part. They are completely vegetarian. With this needle-like mouth, they continuously suck the liquid sap inside the young leaves, stems or fruits of the plant.

​Reproduction:
Their reproduction process is quite simple. Female insects usually lay eggs on the underside of the leaves or stems of the plant. The small children (called nymphs) that hatch from the eggs look a lot like the adult insects, only they do not have wings. After changing their shells several times, they turn into full-fledged insects and can fly with wings.

​Benefits:
Although they do not directly benefit humans, they play a silent role in maintaining the ecosystem or food chain of nature. These types of insects serve as very important food for the survival of various garden spiders, frogs, lizards or small birds.

Harmfulness:
They are a type of harmful pest for farmers. Because they suck the sap of the plant, the young tips of the plant become weak. They can cause a lot of damage, especially in the fields of various pulse crops (such as peas or beans).

Every small animal in nature has such beautiful life histories. Be sure to tell us in the comments how you liked the pictures of this broad-shouldered insect.

I learned about them from various sites including iNaturalist, Wikipedia and Google.

(All posts are written in Bengali and translated into English using Google Translate.)
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Camera Used	Samsung SM-G973F
F-Stop	F2.4
ISO speed	ISO
Focal length	26mm
Flash	No
Editing app	MIX
Photography	Leaf-footed bug (Cletus trigonus)
Photographer	Hive account@mshbd
Location	Purulia, Natore, Bangladesh