![Adult leaffooted bugs. [D.R. Haviland]](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/UCIPMurbanpests/blogfiles/36887small.jpg)
If you've noticed some odd-looking bugs in your garden or landscape recently, you might have leaffooted bugs. These medium to large sized insects feed on certain fruits, fruiting vegetables, nuts and ornamental plants.
Life Cycle
Adult females can lay over 200 eggs during a two-month period during spring. The eggs hatch and the nymphs emerge and can be found together with the adults. During spring and summer, there can be two to three generations of leaffooted bugs in your landscape!
In spring, leaffooted plant bugs often feed on thistles and other weeds. When fruits start to ripen, adults migrate into gardens and landscapes and can be found feeding on tomatoes, pomegranates, and citrus as well as ornamental...
- Author: Chuck Ingels
- Author: David Robert Haviland
![Fig.3. Leaffooted bug nymphs on Hesperaloe parviflora.[Photo by K. Windbiel-Rojas]](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/UCIPMurbanpests/blogfiles/23551small.jpg)
[From the July 2014 issue of the UC IPM Retail Nursery & Garden Center News]
In recent years, you may have seen a strange “new” bug in your garden, especially on tomatoes and pomegranates. These insects may be leaffooted bugs. Although they are native to the western United States and not new to California, leaffooted bugs seem to be occurring more commonly in gardens. These distinctive bugs get their name from the small leaf-like enlargements on the hind leg (Figure 1). They are medium to large sized insects that prefer to feed on fruits and seeds and are often found in...
