Acanthocephala declivis--this was found while driving to work one morning on the hood of my car! I was just picking up speed on my neighborhood road when my field assistant (in the passenger seat) noticed it flailing, upside-down, on the hood. We stopped and captured it for later study. It likely fell onnto my hood from an oak tree above, and it was immobilized by the cold weather--about 45F. I've not seen this species previously in the NC Piedmont--I usually find only Acanthocephala terminalis. Length is 31 mm (measured, tip of abdomen to base of tylus)--really large!
L: ca. 4 cmFamily: Tessaratomidae , Stl, 1864[det. "joe with a camera", 2011, based on this photo]Superfamily: PentatomoideaInfraorder: PentatomomorphaSuborder: HeteropteraOrder: HemipteraClass: Insectamore info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TessaratomidaeIndonesia, Central Java: bvic. Gunug Lawu, ca. 500m asl. , 31.03.2011IMG_0498