Hercules club stink bug

Elasmostethus atricornis · Order: Hemiptera · Family: Acanthosomatidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Hercules club stink bug
Photo: Katja Schulz, CC BY

The Hercules club stink bug occurs in North America. Its habitat is recorded within North America. Its native range includes North America.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

This bug is found in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It lives in North American habitats.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its native range is North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 19 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Vermont, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio.

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

Source: GBIF

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

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Hercules club stink bug photo 2
Photo: Zihao Wang, CC BY
Hercules club stink bug photo 3
Photo: Raven Dandridge, CC BY
Hercules club stink bug photo 4
Photo: Katja Schulz, CC BY
Hercules club stink bug photo 5
Photo: Navin Sasikumar, CC BY

Same family (Acanthosomatidae)

Hawthorn Shield BugHawthorn Shield BugAcanthosoma haemorrhoidaleParent BugParent BugElasmucha griseaBirch Shield BugBirch Shield BugElasmostethus interstinctusDamages trees, gardens or cropsRed-cross Shield BugRed-cross Shield BugElasmostethus cruciatusJuniper Shield BugJuniper Shield BugCyphostethus tristriatusDamages trees, gardens or cropsForest shield bugForest shield bugOncacontias vittatus

Sources

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

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

Text written 2026-10-27 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-27.

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.