Strawberries: Tarnished Plant Bug

Tarnished plant bug

Tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris, feeds on the flowers, causing the berries to deform when they grow. Feeding by nymphs causes the most severe damage, and a threshold of one nymph per every two flower clusters is sufficient to warrant treatment.

Strawberry fruit with red, ripe tops and green, seedy, under-developed tips.

Adult tarnished plant bugs overwinter and lay eggs, but they do minimal damage to strawberry flowers in spring. Nymphs cause the most injury. More tarnished plant bug information.

Strawberry flower with green bug feeding in center.

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