Leptoglossus phyllopus

Leptoglossus phyllopus or Eastern leaf-footed bug is a species of leaf-footed bugs in the same genus as the western conifer seed bug (L. occidentalis. The Eastern leaf-footed bug is found throughout the southern United States, from Florida to California, through Mexico, and as far south as Costa Rica.[1]

Leptoglossus phyllopus
Leptoglossus phyllopus on Pennisetum glaucum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Family: Coreidae
Genus: Leptoglossus
Species:
L. phyllopus
Binomial name
Leptoglossus phyllopus

These bugs are a common garden insect which may damage a wide variety of crops including cotton, peaches and tomatoes, and seeds such as beans, black-eyed peas and sorghum.[2] Like other bugs L. phyllopus suck juices from plants by puncturing them with their sucking mouth parts, making them resistant to ingested pesticides. A toxin is injected into the plant when piercing its skin, causing discoloration and hard spots on fruits.[3] The adult bugs are highly resistant to pesticides; however, they are vulnerable in their bright orange nymph stage. Trap crops can be used to lure them away from desired plants and to encourage predator populations,[4] and in small garden plots handpicking, the use of trap crops, and bug traps baited with methyl (E, Z)-2,4-decadienoate can be effective controls.[5]

Acetosyringone is produced by the male leaffooted bug and used in its communication system.[6][7][8] Leptoglossus phyllopus emits a foul odor when it is handled[9]

Leptoglossus on feeding milo in NE Texas, Fall 2019.
Nymphs on cardoon (Cynara cardunculus

References
  1. http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/leaffooted_bug.htm
  2. https://texasinsects.tamu.edu/leaffooted-bug/ Leaffooted Bug, Field Guide to Common Texas Insects
  3. http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/weekly_Q&A/p&dc_12.htm
  4. http://nfrec.ifas.ufl.edu/mizellrf/stink_bugs/bug_trap_crops.htm
  5. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in534
  6. Acetosyringone on www.pherobase.com, the pheromones data base
  7. Male specific natural products in the bug, Leptoglossus phyllopus: Chemistry and possible function. J.R. Aldrich, M.S. Blum, S.S. Duffey and H.M. Fales, Journal of Insect Physiology, Volume 22, Issue 9, 1976, Pages 1201-1206 doi:10.1016/0022-1910(76)90094-9
  8. Species-specific natural products of adult male leaf-footed bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). J. R. Aldrich, M. S. Blum and H. M. Fales, Journal of Chemical Ecology, Volume 5, Number 1, 53-62, doi:10.1007/BF00987687
  9. https://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/aimg65.html


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