By Peggy d’Hemecourt
Advanced Master Gardener – Earth-Kind ®
Few crops are more cherished during the warm growing season than tomatoes. Whether vine ripened or picked when the skin is beginning to turn from green to red and ripened indoors, the flavor and juiciness beat store-bought tomatoes, hands-down. That home-grown goodness can be spoiled, though, by the arrival of leaffooted bugs, Leptoglossus sp.
Leaffooted bugs are large, brownish to gray, with flat backs that are shield shaped. The hind legs are prominently flattened. There are several species in Fort Bend County, and all have the flattened, leaf-like structures on the hind legs. Leaffooted bugs are closely related to stink bugs, but they are larger than stink bugs and have a more elongated body.These insects have piercing-sucking mouthparts and puncture the fruit to suck out the juices.
When they feed on tomatoes, they cause speckling and spotting of the fruit, leaving spots that don’t fully ripen. An important garden chore is frequent scouting for pest and diseases so that they can be dealt with before serious damage occurs. Removing leaffooted bugs will keep them under control. Removal can be by a gloved hand, sucking them off the plant with a hand-held vacuum, or capturing them in a container of soapy water. Chose a container that you can easily hold in one hand. Add a squirt of dish washing liquid then fill with water. Position the container under the insect and use your other hand to tap the insect into the soapy water, where it will be trapped in the soap suds and sink into the water where it dies.
If leaffooted bugs lay their eggs on your tomatoes, when they hatch, you’ll observe large groups of orange and black nymphs, or immatures, lacking fully developed wings. The nymphs should be removed, too, as soon as observed. A beneficial insect that closely resembles a leaffooted bug nymph is the assassin bug nymph. You’ll know if you’re observing the “good guy” or the “bad guy” by their behavior. Assassin bug nymphs are usually alone, whereas leaffooted bug nymphs congregate in closely-knit large groups.
For more information about vegetable gardening, including vegetable problem solvers, visit
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/ and Leaffooted Bug – Field Guide to Common Texas Insects (tamu.edu)
Photo of leaffooted bugs and nymphs. Photo Credit Nancy Shafer
