I've got some pests just destroying my tomatoes and peppers this year. They're even going after alpine strawberries. I was thinking #1 was a stinkbug, but then I saw #2. These two are definitely sucking on everything...tomatoes, peppers, alpine strawberries, squash, pole bean leaves. I've seen both white and copper colored eggs. No idea what #3 is.
Please enlarge the image to see all 3 pictures.
THANKS for your help!
This message was edited Aug 9, 2010 8:31 PM
These all are stink bugs (Hemiptera/Heteroptera: Pentatomidae); no. 1 is an adult brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) and no. 2 are nymphs of the same species. This bug is an Asian import that has become a pest in many areas of eastern north America - see http://tinyurl.com/yl58lg3 for details. No. 3 is a harlequin stink bug (Murgantia histrionica); see http://tinyurl.com/2etennh for an image. This species absolutely devastates mustard, kale, and related plants.
We had a bunch of the harlequin stink bugs this year that wiped out my collards - I had to pull them all. I squished as many of the bugs as I could. How do you protect plants against this kind of bug besides row covers?
