White-Crossed Seed Bug

White-crossed seed bug on a blooming butterweed plant
Scientific Name
Neacoryphus bicrucis
Family
Lygaeidae (seed bugs) in order Hemiptera (true bugs)
Description

The white-crossed seed bug, or ragwort seed bug, is an attractive insect with a prominent thin-lined white or yellow X dividing zones of red and black. Its unique color pattern makes it easy to identify.

Learn more about this and other seed bugs on their group page.

Other Common Names
Ragwort Seed Bug
Whitecrossed Seed Bug

Like most other seed bugs, this insect usually is seen in open areas, where its food plants are abundant.

Apparently, it can survive on a variety of host plants, but groundsels and ragworts (Packera spp.; in the sunflower-daisy family) are a favorite.

Media Gallery
White-crossed seed bug on a blooming butterweed plant
The white-crossed seed bug, or ragwort seed bug (Neacoryphus bicrucis), has handsome and distinctive markings. It can survive on a variety of host plants, but groundsels and ragworts (Packera spp.), are a favorite. This one is on a butterweed, Packera glabella.
Julianna Schroeder
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White-crossed seed bug on a blooming butterweed plant
Similar Species
About Land Invertebrates in Missouri
Invertebrates are animals without backbones, including earthworms, slugs, snails, and arthropods. Arthropods—invertebrates with “jointed legs” — are a group of invertebrates that includes crayfish, shrimp, millipedes, centipedes, mites, spiders, and insects. There may be as many as 10 million species of insects alive on earth today, and they probably constitute more than 90 percent all animal species.