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
Suborder:	Heteroptera
Family:	Coreidae
Genus:	Leptoglossus
Species:	L. phyllopus
Binomial name
Leptoglossus phyllopus (Linnaeus, 1767)

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