Leaf Footed Bugs (LFB) first appear in our garden around mid-June. They are first attracted to blackberries and seem to prefer this crop until it plays out around mid- July. If your timing is good and you have sunflowers blooming, they will move to the sunflowers. If not, they are going to move to the tomatoes by the first of August. When the tomatoes are gone, they will move to the okra.
LFB’s have piercing mouthparts and will puncture the fruit and extract juice. Since they attack the blackberries early in the season, their numbers are low and the damage is minimal. What you see on the berry is one or two drupelets that are pink instead of black after having the juice sucked out. On okra, you will see the pods curl towards the side where the juice was extracted. On tomatoes, you will notice the punctures and the site of extraction will rot before the tomato is completely ripe. The damage is the same as what you would expect from a marmorated stink bug, but the LFB’s can be present in greater numbers.
The females lay eggs and the nymphs, which are orange with black legs, cluster together on the plant. In this stage, they are easy to kill. However, the adults are very agile and fly fast. While you can knock a marmorated stink bug into a cup of soapy water or simply handpick them, the LFB’s are much harder to manage in that manner. We try not to spray anything on our tomatoes, but even when we do it does not seem to bother the LFB’s. We have had success with a handheld vacuum, harvesting and killing them. We have also had some success covering the tomatoes with insect barrier cloth. Last season we did some research on insecticides labeled for stink bugs and LFB’s. Several products were effective, but one containing the active ingredient cyfluthrin seems to be most effective. Instead of spraying the entire plant, we targeted the LFB’s with the jet spray setting on the Ready to Use a spray bottle. Once the LFB is hit with the spray, he dies and the plant was hit with practically no insecticide. Products containing bifenthrin 0.3%, gamma cyhalothrin 0.8%, or lambda cyhalothrin 0.5% can also be effective. As with any insecticide, READ THE LABEL and make sure it is for tomatoes and stink bugs. Use only as directed. For more information, contact the UGA Henry County Extension Office at 770-288-8421.
