Leaffooted Bug

What it does

Leaffooted bugs use needle-like mouthparts to pierce fruits, seeds, and nuts and suck out the contents, causing dimples, discoloration, hard spots, and dropped or misshapen fruit. Adults are strong fliers, cluster in groups, and give off an odor when handled. In fall they seek sheltered overwintering sites and can gather on or enter homes like stink bugs.

Where it lives

They feed on a wide range of plants: tomatoes, pomegranates, citrus, almonds, pistachios, ornamentals, and many weeds, in gardens, orchards, and farms. Most common in the warmer southern, south-central, and western US, adults overwinter in sheltered spots such as woodpiles, outbuildings, and around house eaves and walls.

How it breeds

There are one to three generations a year depending on region. Overwintered adults become active in spring and lay rows of eggs on stems and leaves. Nymphs, often reddish or orange, feed in groups and mature through several stages over the summer. New adults feed into fall, then seek shelter to overwinter.

What it eats

Leaffooted bugs feed only on plant material, favoring developing fruits, seeds, and nuts, and also feeding on stems and leaves. They do not feed on blood, people, animals, or stored household food, though they may wander indoors while overwintering.

Identification

Adults are large (about 3/4 inch), narrow, and brown to gray-brown, with a distinctive flat, leaf-like widening on the hind legs and often a pale zigzag band across the back. Nymphs are smaller, reddish to orange, and lack the full leaf-legs. Their size and leaf-shaped legs set them apart from stink bugs.

Signs of an infestation

• Large brown bugs with leaf-like hind legs on fruit and stems
• Dimpled, discolored, or hard-spotted fruit and nuts
• Rows of bronze, barrel-shaped eggs on stems and leaves
• Groups of reddish nymphs on developing fruit
• Adults clustering on sunny house walls or entering in fall

Prevention tips

• Hand-pick adults and nymphs into soapy water in the garden
• Remove weeds and debris that shelter and feed them
• Seal exterior cracks, gaps, and screens to keep overwintering adults out
• Use row covers on susceptible crops before bugs arrive
• Clean up drops and remove overwintering sites like woodpiles near the house

Professional solutions

In gardens, hand-picking and sanitation usually keep leaffooted bugs in check, so a professional is rarely needed. For orchards or heavy crop damage, labeled insecticides timed to nymphs are more effective than treating tough adults. For repeated fall home invasions, a pest professional can help seal entry points.