Thanks to Ted, who maintains the "Beetles in the Bush" blog, I could get an ID on the painterly insect, that I came across in the Nepal Himalayas this May. Ted was prompt in his reply, inside a day of my email. Thank you!
Awesome bug – that is a nymph in the family Tessaratomidae, or giant shield bugs. I don’t have much literature on the group, but there are about 350 mostly Old World species. It seems to be in the genus Tessaratoma and could be T. quadrata, which is the only species in the genus listed from Nepal at this site: http://www.heteroptera.fr/tessite/Tessaratoma/index.html . For comparison, here is a photo of a T. quadrata nymph from China: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ hibiscustown/9363794127/ - they look pretty similar to me, if not the same.
This bug is from the family of Tessaratomidae under genus of Tessaratoma.
Tesseratomids, like most heteropterans use chemical defenses (allomones),[20] the source of the common name for pentatomoids - 'stink bugs'.[13] When threatened, tessaratomids may squirt a strong jet of caustic liquid up to a distance of 15 to 27 centimetres (5.9 to 11 in).
Taxonomy:
Phylum : Arthropoda - Arthropods
Class : Insecta - Insects
Order : Hemiptera - True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies
Suborder : Heteroptera - True Bugs
Superfamily : Pentatomoidea
Family : Tessaratomidae
Genus : Tessaratoma
[heteroptera.fr] Tessaratoma quadrata Distant, 1902
Distribution: China (Guangxi, Ghizhou, Guangdong, Sichuan, Yunnan), India (Assam, Sikkim), Indo-China, Nepal, Vietnam.Here's Indian govt's brief on the Tessaratomidae in India.
"Indian tessaratomids are represented by 41 species under 14 genera of 2 subfamilies. "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tessaratoma_papillosa_nymph.jpg
Here's a shield bug spotted in Solapur, Maharashtra, India
That wraps up an interesting recall.
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