Immature Leaf Footed Bugs: genus Leptoglossus

bugman

July 24th, 2009 at 10:28 am

Categories

Six legged reddish orange & black insect
July 23, 2009
I live in Southwest Louisiana. I have a small garden with cantaloupes in it. I have a bunch of nickle sized reddish orange & black six legged insects on the leaves. They don’t seem to be eating the leaves, but often are grouped together. I don’t know if they are doing good or harm, so I have not taken any action as far as pest control. I’ve looked all over the internet with no luck. Thank you for your help!
Amateur Gardner in LA
Southwest Louisiana

Leaf Bug Nymphs

Dear Amateur Gardener,
After our initial short response (please don’t put us on blast for not giving you a complete response) we found a matching photo on BugGuide while researching information on Leptoglossus phyllopus, one of the Leaf Footed Bugs. You live within the range map, so we believe you may have this species or a member of the genus. Immature nymphs are often nearly impossible to properly identify unless they can be associated with the adults. In quantities, these may damage some of your produce, especially if they begin to attack ripening tomatoes since they secrete a saliva that could damage the fruit.