Hedge Nettle Stink Bug

Cosmopepla conspicillaris · Order: Hemiptera · Family: Pentatomidae

Also called: Conspicuous Stink Bug, Happy Bespectacled Stink Bug, Two-spotted Stink Bug

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Hedge Nettle Stink Bug
Photo: Gavin Slater, CC BY

The hedgenettle stink bug is a bright stink bug with a black base colour, orange markings and a white chevron-shaped tip on the scutellum. It is most often found on plants of the genus Stachys and is also called the conspicuous, two-spotted, or happy bespectacled stink bug.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

It shows a black base colour with orange outer markings and orange "spectacles" on the dorsal thorax. The scutellum ends in a white chevron-shaped tip, which sets it apart from other members of its genus.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It prefers plants in the genus Stachys, which is why it is commonly called the hedgenettle stink bug.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

It commonly feeds on plants of the genus Stachys.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Cosmopepla conspicillaris was first described by William Dallas in 1851 and belongs to the family Pentatomidae.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

Other stink bugs may look similar, but they differ in the number of spectacle spots, overall colouration, and preferred host plant.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 8 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Colorado.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Hedge Nettle Stink Bug photo 2
Photo: Garth Harwood, CC BY
Hedge Nettle Stink Bug photo 3
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Hedge Nettle Stink Bug photo 4
Photo: Justin, CC BY
Hedge Nettle Stink Bug photo 5
Photo: Justin, CC BY

Same family (Pentatomidae)

Brown Marmorated Stink BugBrown Marmorated Stink BugHalyomorpha halysDamages trees, gardens or cropsGreen Stink BugGreen Stink BugChinavia hilarisDamages trees, gardens or cropsHarlequin BugHarlequin BugMurgantia histrionicaDamages trees, gardens or cropsBrown Stink BugBrown Stink BugEuschistus servusDamages trees, gardens or cropsGreen Shield BugGreen Shield BugPalomena prasinaEuropean Striped Shield BugEuropean Striped Shield BugGraphosoma italicum

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmopepla_conspicillaris

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.