Black stink bug

Nature always provides the most beautiful surprises every second. This time, I found a small, jet-black insect with a soft white pattern on its back, sitting sweetly on a young branch. It was a black stink bug, or Coptosoma xanthogramma in Latin, and it belonged to the Plataspidae family.

The insect seemed so calm, unperturbed by my presence. Its serene silence was as if the vast, bustling world had shrunk into a peaceful space, where only it and a young, growing leaf existed. The leaf had just begun to open from its bud, still curling shyly.

This insect is very small, almost invisible. Despite its tiny size, it is greatly feared by bean farmers, especially long beans and mung beans. The two main targets of this insect on bean plants are the young leaves and the unripe fruit. They will suck the sap from the leaves and young fruit.

Behind all that, this tiny insect is also beneficial to the ecosystem, particularly as a key member of the food chain. It's a tasty snack for spiders, dragonflies, and small birds. It's only considered a nuisance in farmers' peanut fields. When it's in the wild or in the bush, like the one I encountered, it's highly respected as a vital part of the ecosystem's balance.