Pacific Pests, Pathogens, Weeds & Pesticides - Online edition

Pacific Pests, Pathogens, Weeds & Pesticides

Squash leaf-footed bug (165)


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Summary

  • Widespread distribution. In Asia, Oceania. On snake gourd, melon, cucumber and other cucurbits, the main hosts. Occasionally, 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
Information from Ingels C, Haviland D (2014) Pest notes: Leaffooted bug. UC/IPM. ANR Publication 74168. (http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74168.html). and from Leptoglossus gonagra (2020). Wikipedia. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptoglossus_gonagra). 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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