Plant
Bugs: Adult
tarnished plant bugs are approximately 1/4 of an inch in length and
tarnished brown in color. The small inverted triangle located in
the center of the back is typical of plant bugs and other insects
in this group. The sharp downward bend in the wings is a useful character
in identifying tarnished plant bug adults. The five distinct spots
on the back of the nymph
of the tarnished plant bug are useful characters to look for
in identifying this fast moving insect. Plant bugs cause damage by
feeding on small squares with their piercing/sucking mouthparts.
These blasted
squares turn black and are soon shed from the plant resulting
in an abscission
scar. Many factors other than injury by plant bugs also can cause
fruit to shed. Plant
bugs also can cause damage by feeding on young bolls, resulting
in small, dark sunken lesions on the surface of the boll. Slicing
bolls that are damaged in this manner will often reveal local
"jellied" areas where the salivary enzymes injected by the plant bug
have destroyed developing tissue. Other plant bugs include cotton
fleahoppers, which are much smaller than tarnished plant bugs and cause
damage primarily by blasting small squares, and clouded
plant bugs which primarily occur during late season and damage bolls
similarly to tarnished plant bugs.
