Mictis profana

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Mictis profana, commonly called the crusader bug or holy cross bug, is a leaf-footed bug in the Coreidae family. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and the wider Indo-Pacific region. It lives in many habitats—from cities to coastal heath—except deserts.

Adults are about 20–25 mm long. They are gray to brown with a cream- or yellow-colored cross on their back. They have long legs, with the shoulder area of the thorax bearing small spines. The back legs are thicker and usually have ridges or teeth on the hind femur; in males the hind legs are more swollen. The hind-leg tibiae have plate-like segments in the middle, and males show a spine in that area.

In later nymph stages, orange spots appear on the abdomen, and wing pads are marked with orange.

Mictis profana feeds on many plants, including eucalyptus, wattles, citrus, grapes, pawpaw, cowpeas, tomatoes, beans, and green gram. It is a minor pest of citrus and wattles, but it can also help control the weed Mimosa pigra.