Podisus maculiventris
A shield-shaped stink bug about 1/2 inch long that eats other insects instead of plants. It is pale to yellowish brown, speckled black, and its shoulders end in sharp points. StopBMSB calls it a common predatory stink bug throughout North America and lists it among the insects often mistaken for the brown marmorated stink bug. It spears caterpillars and beetle larvae, Colorado potato and Mexican bean beetle among them, and sucks them dry. A few suppliers sell nymphs or eggs, but most gardens already have it; the real job is not to kill it.
At a glance
- Mode
- Predator — nymphs and adults
- Size
- About 1/2 inch (12 mm)
- Tell
- Pointed shoulders, often reddish antennae
- Ships as
- Nymphs (50) or eggs (250)
- Nymph to adult
- 23 days at 77 °F; 99 days at 59 °F
- Adult life
- 5–8 weeks; up to 1,000 eggs
How it works
Females lay metallic bronze eggs in small clusters of 20–30 on leaves, and can lay up to 1,000 over an adult life of five to eight weeks. The youngest nymphs may take plant juices, but the later stages and the adults are predators: they drive the beak into the prey and suck out its fluids. Texas A&M says they favour caterpillars and grubs with few hairs, and Planet Natural says it attacks more than 100 insect pests. Development slows sharply in the cold: in lab tests it took 23 days from nymph to adult at 77 °F (25 °C), 99 days at 59 °F (15 °C), and none at 50 °F (10 °C).
The best-studied target is Colorado potato beetle. In field microplots it ate at least as many beetle eggs and larvae as Perillus bioculatus, the other predatory stink bug tested, stayed slightly longer in plots seeded with egg masses, and was as good at preventing defoliation. It does not readily eat adult beetles, but adults kept near it ate 23% less over their lifetime in field cages and laid 37% fewer eggs in a short greenhouse test. A synthetic version of its pheromone raised predation on sentinel beetle eggs about fivefold in potato plots, and in a separate two-season trial pheromone plots yielded 13% more potatoes, though there the wild bugs were too few to matter and the gain came from the plants' and beetles' responses to the scent. Sound Horticulture warns it takes months to establish, so it supplements other controls rather than replacing them.
Is it established?
Released nymphs are easy to follow. They move in groups, and a nymph with its beak in a caterpillar or larva is the sign it is working.
- DAY 1Nymphs walking from plant to plant in groups
- WEEKS 1–3Nymphs feeding on caterpillars and beetle larvae; shrivelled, sucked-out prey
- WEEK 3+Winged adults, about 23 days after the nymphs hatch at 77 °F
- MONTHSBronze egg clusters on leaves — a resident population, which Sound Horticulture says can take months
What it is confused with
Its shape is the stink bug shape, so the pointed shoulders and the beak are the tells. Check before you squash.
- PestBrown marmorated stink bug — The pest. Its antennae have light bands, and the first segment of its beak is longer and thinner; the soldier bug's shoulders end in sharp points and its antennae are often reddish.
- PestBrown stink bugs (Euschistus) — Plant feeders with blunter shoulder points. Texas A&M separates the soldier bug by its more acute spines on the edge of the pronotum.
Release & handling
Sound Horticulture ships 50 nymphs in a bottle; Planet Natural lists packs of 250 eggs, sent by FedEx Overnight. No holding temperatures were published by either, so plan to release on the day of delivery and be there to receive it.
Release the same day
No storage guidance was published. Planet Natural will not cover shipments left unattended and asks buyers to arrange pickup if they are out.
Hot spots only
When caterpillar generations do not overlap, release onto the infested plants (Sound Horticulture).
Spread evenly
Once caterpillars of all ages are present, release evenly through the crop.
Repeat, and keep other controls
Every one to two weeks until controlled. It is slow to establish, so run it alongside your other biological controls.
How to keep it around
Most gardens already have spined soldier bugs. Keeping them is mostly a matter of not killing them.
- Learn the pointed shoulders and reddish antennae, and leave these bugs when you are hand-picking stink bugs
- Hold off on broad-spectrum sprays on crops where they are working caterpillars or beetle larvae
- Synthetic spined soldier bug pheromone raised egg predation fivefold in potato trials (Martinez et al. 2026); retail lures were not checked
When to choose something else
It is a useful native generalist, not a targeted fix. Reach for something else when:
- The pest is brown marmorated stink bug — no release data exist; the promising enemy, the samurai wasp, is not sold (Cornell NYSIPM)
- Mexican bean beetle is the target — the parasitoid Pediobius foveolatus has the track record
- Colorado potato beetle larvae are feeding now — Bt tenebrionis is the targeted larval control, though no home-garden-sized product was found on sale; the bug takes months to establish
- The caterpillars are very hairy — Texas A&M says it prefers caterpillars with few hairs
Where to buy
Few insectaries sell it, and in small lots. Suppliers listed alphabetically, not ranked; helpfulbugs takes no commission and does not sell insects.
- Planet Natural250 eggs (price on request)US
- Sound Horticulture50 nymphsUS
Podisus maculiventris by target
Rate and timing differ by what you are releasing it against. Each page below is the program for one pest.