Plant Feeding Stink Bugs

Plant bugs and stink bugs feed on peaches, other stone fruit and a wide array of wild and cultivated plants, including numerous horticultural and agronomic crops. These hemipterous (sucking) bugs are significant pests throughout the United States.

Stink bugs are broadly shieldshaped, flattened, with a narrow head, and rather short legs. The green stink bug is bright green, sometimes with a visible yellowish-orange to reddish border. On the underside, the first ventral body segment behind the backpair of legs is pointed. The point extends forward between the hind legs. Green stink bugs are about 1/2 inch (12-13 mm) long. The southern green stink bug is similar in size and appearance. It is uniformly light green, and the first ventral segment behind the back legs is rounded and does not extend forward between the back legs. Many Thyanta spp. stink bugs are also green, frequently with red shoulders; they are smaller, usually only about 3/8 inch (9-10 mm) long. Euschistus spp. stink bugs are light grayish-brown to brown, marked with dark brown to black speckles. The brown stink bug, E. servus, is often the most common stink bug on southeastern peaches. The brown stink bug frequently has slightly pointed shoulders. It is about 3/8 to 1/2 inch (10 to 12 mm) long.

PLANT DAMAGE

Sucking bugs feed by sucking sap from plants. They inject a salivary secretion into the plant when feeding to break down plant tissues. Sucking bugs feed on a great diversity of host plants, moving from one host to the next to feed on the best available food source. They prefer to feed on maturing flower buds, blooms, and fruit, but if no reproductive tissues are available, they feed on succulent vegetative growth. Feeding injury is very destructive to fruiting bodies and other tender plant parts, but wounds are confined to the small areas actually fed on. Earliest injury to peaches is caused by the tarnished plant bug, other Lygus spp.,and possibly stink bugs that are active in the early spring.

Tarnished plant bugs can be present in high numbers when peaches start to grow in the spring. Before fruit set, plant bugs feed on swelling fruit and leaf buds and then blooms, causing the buds and blooms to dry up and abort. This injury is insignificant if flower bud numbers are within normal healthy ranges. To view this entire article, please visit http://www.ent.uga.edu/Peach/peachhbk/insects/plantbugs.pdf

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