Man-faced stink bug, Catacanthus incarnatus – Borneo/Sarawak 700m ASL

Catacanthus incarnatus (Drury, 1773) is a species of bug (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) from the family Pentatomidae and the tribe Catacanthini. Adult animals reach a body length of about 25–30 mm and are shield-shaped; yellow to orange/red colour morphs with several large black spots are common, with the pattern on the scutellum and forewings described as a ‘human face’. Catacanthus incarnatus is phytophagous and sucks plant sap from various forest trees; sucking can lead to wilting of leaves and shoots as well as fruit drop. When disturbed, it emits a typical ‘stink bug’ odour secretion; in addition, aggregation behaviour has been described, in which hundreds of individuals appear simultaneously on host trees (including cashew, Delonix regia) by means of an aggregation pheromone; Additional host records (Ixora brachiata, Memecylon umbellatum, Glochidion ellipticum, Olea dioica) have been published for the West Indies.
Etymologically, the genus name Catacanthus is explained as ‘with downward-pointing thorns’; the species epithet incarnatus is Latin and means ‘flesh-coloured’.