Musgraveia sulciventris

In 1863, Swedish entomologist Carl Stål described the species as Oncoscelis sulciventris from a collection near Moreton Bay in Queensland.^[4][5] In 1957, English entomologists Dennis Leston and G.G.E. Scudder reclassified the bronze orange bug as Musgraveia sulciventris, due to reorganization of Oncoscelis and related genera.^[6] It is the type species of the genus Musgraveia and in the Tessaratomidae family.^[7][8]

Bronze orange bugs are first found on trees in late winter. Mating takes place between late November through early March. Each mating pair takes 3 to 5 days to produce 10 to 14 eggs.^[9] The female lays up to four clutches of eggs and deposits them on the undersurface of a leaf. The bright green spherical eggs are around 2.5 mm (0.1 in) in diameter.^[10] The incubation period varies based on current weather conditions. Hatching averages around 7.4 days at 25 °C and 6 percent humidity.^[11] As a light green nymph, they are difficult to spot and often mistaken for different species.^[1][12] The bronze orange bug has five stages of development known as instars. The first instars remain huddled near the eggs. They are transparent pale green with orange eyes.^[11] The second instars are more buff or pale yellow.^[13] Adults grow to be approximately 25 mm (0.98 in) long, and go from orange to their more familiar bronze color as they develop.^[10]

Life cycle of Musgraveia sulciventris

Left: A cluster of bronze orange bug eggs. The embryos can be seen through the clear egg membranes, as well as the small ring of micropylar processes on each egg. The second egg from the bottom right is unfertilized and remains a murky green; Center left: Nymphs emerging from the eggs. Early instars of bronze orange bugs are bright green in color; Center right: A fourth or fifth instar nymph resting on a citrus leaf. It is now brilliantly orange in color with black margins and a small black dot at the center of its body; Right: An adult bronze orange bug on the underside of a citrus leaf. The adults are much drabber in color than the nymphs. Below it is also a green third instar nymph.