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Tarnished Plant Bug

Tarnished Plant Bug

Lygus lineolaris

Insectalso: Lygus bug

A small, fast, mottled bug (a Lygus bug) that feeds on tender buds, shoots, and developing fruit, injecting a toxin that distorts and scars the growth. On strawberries it causes the gnarled, seedy berries known as cat-facing, and it deforms many flowers and vegetables.

🔎 How to spot it

Adults are about a quarter inch, oval and flattened, bronze to brown with darker mottling and a small pale yellow triangle on the back. They move fast and fly readily when disturbed. The bright green nymphs look a bit like fast-moving aphids but run rather than cluster. Look for the damage: blackened buds, distorted leaves, and misshapen fruit.

🥀 Damage it causes

Both adults and nymphs pierce buds, shoot tips, and young fruit and inject saliva that kills cells, causing wilted and dying shoot tips, blackened flower buds, catfaced and dimpled strawberries, and pitted or deformed fruit and seed. The adult does most of the fruit damage, and feeding early in the season can make plants grow bushy and distorted from the loss of the main shoot.

🛡️ Prevent it

Control weeds in and around the garden, since Lygus bugs build up on weedy flowers and broadleaf weeds in spring and move onto crops as the weeds dry or are cut. Keep a tidy border, avoid mowing weedy areas next to fruit at a vulnerable time, and protect strawberries and other susceptible crops with row cover where practical.

🧯 If it is already here

Aim any treatment at the small nymphs, since registered products do poorly on the tough, mobile adults; time it by watching for nymphs in the buds. White sticky traps help monitor numbers. In the home garden, weed management, row cover, and tolerating minor catfacing usually beat chemical control, and natural enemies such as Anaphes egg-parasite wasps and big-eyed bugs help.

💡 Good to know

Tarnished plant bug has an enormous host range across flowers, fruit, and vegetables, which is why nearby weeds matter so much: they are the spring nursery from which the bugs invade. Because adults are hard to kill and quick to fly, prevention through weed control and well-timed action on nymphs is the realistic path.

🌱 Plants it attacks

714 plants in the library can be attacked by this pest

Acorn SquashAdirondack Blue PotatoAdzuki BeanAfrican Blue BasilAfrican MarigoldAgapanthusAgeratumAgrimonyAji Amarillo Pepper🍓Albion StrawberryAlice du Pont Mandevilla🥔All Blue PotatoAlmondAloe VeraAmbrosia CornAmerican BasswoodAmerican Beauty Dragon FruitAmerican BeechAmerican PersimmonAmethyst Falls WisteriaAmish Paste TomatoAnaheim PepperAnemoneAngelique TulipAngeloniaAniseAnise HyssopAnjou PearAnnabelle Smooth HydrangeaAnnual VincaApeldoorn TulipApple MintApril Tryst CamelliaArbequina OliveArizona Sun Blanket FlowerArkin CarambolaArmenian CucumberAroniaArp RosemaryArugulaAshwagandhaAsian PearAsian PersimmonAtemoyaAtlantic Giant Pumpkin🥕Atomic Red CarrotAucubaAugust Beauty GardeniaAunt Molly's Ground CherryAutumn Joy SedumAvocadoBachelor's ButtonBalsam FirBalsam PoplarBanana PepperBarbara Karst BougainvilleaBartlett PearBay LaurelBayberryBeach PlumBeauregard Sweet PotatoBecky Shasta DaisyBee Balm🍅Beefmaster TomatoBenarys Giant ZinniaBengal Tiger CannaBetter Boy Tomato🥬Bibb Lettuce🍅Big Beef TomatoBig Boy TomatoBilberryBing CherryBitter MelonBlack BeanBlack Beauty EggplantBlack Beauty ZucchiniBlack Beluga LentilBlack Cherry TomatoBlack CrowberryBlack Currant🍉Black Diamond WatermelonBlack Kabouli ChickpeaBlack Krim TomatoBlack RaspberryBlack Sapote🥬Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce🥕Black Spanish RadishBlack Tartarian CherryBlack WalnutBlack-Eyed PeaBlack-eyed Susan VineBlood OrangeBloomsdale SpinachBlue Bird DelphiniumBlue Bird Rose of SharonBlue FescueBlue Lake Green BeanBluecrop BlueberryBocking 14 ComfreyBok Choy

For educational and informational purposes only. Pest control advice is general guidance drawn from university cooperative extension sources; always identify a pest positively and read and follow the label on any product before use, especially around food crops, children, and pets.