Tachinidae
Tachinid flies- Kind
- Wild — attract it
- Best for
- Parasitises large nymphs and adults
Pest
Leaf-footed bug
Leptoglossus spp.
The short answer
Leaf-footed bugs (Leptoglossus species) are narrow, brown true bugs about 3/4 to 1 inch long, named for the flattened, leaf-like flare on each hind leg. They pierce fruit and seeds to feed. Small tomatoes can drop, larger ones get depressions or discoloured patches, pomegranate arils darken and wither inside the fruit, and young citrus fruit develops sunken spots and dried-out juice sacs. UC IPM says insecticides are rarely needed in gardens, because small blemishes are tolerable. Hand-pick or vacuum the bugs and nymphs, remove weeds, and clear the woodpiles and other sheltered spots where adults gather for winter.
hero macro · adult on a tomato, hind-leg flare visible
Adult leaf-footed bug (Leptoglossus zonatus) on a ripening tomato, showing the flattened hind leg. Photo: pending.
Identification
Adults are narrow, brown and 0.75 to 1 inch (19–25 mm) long. The flattened, leaf-like flare on each hind leg gives them their name. In California, UC IPM separates three species. L. zonatus has two yellow spots behind the head and a clear white zigzag across the wings. L. clypealis has a thorn-like spike projecting forward from the head. L. occidentalis, the western conifer seed bug, has neither feature and only a faint zigzag. In Georgia, USDA researchers record the eastern leaf-footed bug, L. phyllopus, feeding on cotton bolls.
The eggs are brown and cylindrical, laid end to end in a string along a stem or leaf. Most strings hold 10 to 15 eggs, though strings of more than 50 have been reported. Nymphs look nothing like the adults. They are orange to reddish-brown with dark heads and legs, and are often found in groups on the fruit.
Easily confused with
- Assassin bug nymphsBeneficial — leave itYoung assassin bugs have pale legs and antennae; leaf-footed bug nymphs have dark heads, legs and antennae.
- Squash bugAlso a pestLook at the hind legs: only the leaf-footed bug has the flattened, leaf-like blade, and its wings carry a white zigzag band.
- Wheel bugBeneficial — leave itAdult wheel bugs carry a cog-like crest on the back, and their nymphs are red with black legs; leaf-footed bugs have leaf-like hind legs instead.
Damage symptoms
Leaf-footed bugs push their long mouthparts into fruit and seeds. The damage depends on the fruit and how developed it is. It is often hidden inside the fruit, with little or nothing showing on the skin. Sometimes pathogens get in through the feeding wounds.
- Tomato: small fruit that aborts and drops; medium fruit with depressions or discoloured patches
- Pomegranate: brown spots on the inside of the skin, with darkened, withered arils beneath; sometimes soft or black rot
- Young citrus fruit: slightly sunken, discoloured areas around the feeding site as the fruit grows
- Larger citrus fruit: no visible mark on the rind, but punctured juice sacs that dry out inside
- Groups of orange nymphs on a single fruit, and dark amber droplets of excrement on the fruit surface
Lifecycle & degree days
Adults spend the winter in groups in sheltered spots: woodpiles, barns, palm fronds, citrus or juniper trees, under peeling bark and in tree cracks. They disperse when the weather warms, which UC IPM puts at March in the San Joaquin Valley and April in the Sacramento Valley. Overwintered females can lay more than 200 eggs over about two months in spring. Nymphs take 5 to 8 weeks to reach adulthood. There are usually two to three generations over spring and summer, and numbers build towards late summer and autumn. A low of about 21 °F (−6 °C) held for at least six hours kills about half of exposed bugs, so outbreaks can follow several mild winters.
- Eggs per female
- Over 200 in about 2 months (spring)
- Nymph to adult
- 5–8 weeks
- Generations / yr
- 2–3 (California)
- Overwinters
- Adults, in aggregations in sheltered spots
- Winter kill
- About 50% at 21 °F (−6 °C) for 6+ hours
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Host crops
UC IPM notes that gardeners most often report leaf-footed bugs on tomatoes and pomegranates. The bugs also feed on almonds, pistachios, young citrus fruit, cotton bolls and watermelons, and on palms, Joshua trees and yucca. In pomegranate orchards they arrive in late spring to early summer and feed through the autumn. In citrus they damage mature fruit in winter and early spring, while adults are overwintering in the trees, and young fruit if they are still there after bloom. Pomegranate is filed under fruit trees until it has a crop page of its own.
Monitoring & action thresholds
Action threshold
No threshold set
UC IPM states that treatment thresholds for leaf-footed bugs have not been developed for any crop. For pomegranate it advises that an occasional adult on the fruit is tolerable, but numbers should not be allowed to build. In a home garden, insecticides are rarely needed, because small blemishes on most fruit are tolerable.
Check fruit and the stems around it for adults, groups of orange nymphs and strings of brown eggs, from early summer. On pomegranates, UC IPM advises scouting from mid-August through October; numbers rise closer to harvest. In citrus, look for clusters of overwintering adults between November and March, and for dark amber droplets of excrement on the fruit, which show the bugs are feeding. Egg strings with small round exit holes show that the egg parasitoid Gryon pennsylvanicum is present.
Beneficial
Biological control
The natural enemies are all wild. The tiny egg parasitoid Gryon pennsylvanicum gives partial to good control when bug numbers are high, but it cannot attack the overwintering adults. The feather-legged tachinid fly Trichopoda pennipes lays its eggs on large nymphs and adults. In a USDA study in Georgia, flowering milkweed planted beside cotton raised parasitism of the eastern leaf-footed bug and two stink bugs from 1.1% to 24.0%. Birds, spiders and assassin bugs also eat leaf-footed bugs. Pyrethroid sprays such as permethrin are quite toxic to bees and beneficial insects.
Cultural controls
In a garden, the physical methods are the whole programme. UC IPM's view is that insecticides are rarely needed.
- Hand-pick adults and nymphs, and crush the egg strings
- Use a hand-held vacuum on groups of nymphs and on adults
- Learn to recognise egg strings with small round exit holes: they show the egg parasitoid Gryon pennsylvanicum is at work
- Keep weeds down in and around the garden
- Clear woodpiles and check outbuildings and loose bark near the garden, where the adults gather for winter
- Cover tomatoes and other small plants with row cover where the bugs have been a problem, putting it on early, before the bugs arrive
Chemical, last resort
Rarely needed. Pyrethroids work best but are quite toxic to bees and beneficial insectsCheck any product before it goes on. Open the compatibility matrix →
Rating: the effect on this pest's natural enemies if a spray hits them or they feed on treated plants. REI is the re-entry interval on farm and greenhouse labels; home labels usually give none, so follow the label.
Sources
UC IPM Pest Notes 74168, Leaffooted Bug (Ingels & Haviland, updated 2014)
UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines: Pomegranate — Leaffooted Bug (updated 2018)
UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines: Citrus — Leaffooted Bug (text updated 2017)
Tillman & Carpenter, Milkweed … for increasing parasitism of stink bugs, Environ. Entomol. 2014
Tillman & Grabarczyk, Success of parasitism … by Trichopoda pennipes, J. Insect Sci. 2025
Page status
Drafted from the sources below, then checked claim by claim against those sources on 23 September 2026.
Suggest a correction →