Pacific Pests, Pathogens & Weeds - Mini Fact Sheet EditionSquash leaf-footed bug (165)
Pacific Pests, Pathogens & Weeds - Mini Fact Sheet EditionSquash leaf-footed bug (165)
Summary
- Widespread distribution. In Asia, Oceania. On snake gourd, melon, cucumber and other cucurbits, the main hosts. Ocasionally, an important pest.
- Nymphs and adults suck sap from leaves, stems, fruits. Fruits, shrivel, rot and fall.
- Eggs laid on leaves and stems. Nymphs reddish, darkening later and developing outgrowths on legs. Very long mouthparts.
- Natural enemies: no reports from Pacific islands; elsewhere, assassin bugs, mantids, spiders and wasps.
- Cultural control: avoid planting new crops next to old; handpick – bugs are slow-moving in early morning; collect trash and burn after harvest.
- Chemical control: PDPs: derris or pyrethrum; or synthetic pyrethroids, but they are likely to kill predators.
Common Name
Leaf-footed bug, squash bug
Scientific Name
Leptoglossus species; Leptoglossus gonagra (previosuly known as Leptoglossus australis) is the common species in the Pacific islands.
AUTHOR Grahame Jackson
Photos 1&2 Graham Teakle, Canberra. Photos 3-5 Mani Mua, SPC, Sigatoka Research Station, Fiji.
Produced with support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research under project PC/2010/090: Strengthening integrated crop management research in the Pacific Islands in support of sustainable intensification of high-value crop production, implemented by the University of Queensland and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.
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