Scouting for pests: Four-lined plant bug

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Editor’s note: This article is from the archives of the MSU Crop Advisory Team Alerts. Check the label of any pesticide referenced to ensure your use is included

Note: Four-lined plant bug is a common pest this time of year. Raymond Cloyd of Kansas State University wrote this information as part of the field guide A Pocket Guide for IPM Scouting in Herbaceous Perennials. To order, call 517-353-6740.

Four-lined plant bug nymphs and adults move very rapidly when disturbed. Young nymphs are red-orange with black markings on the thorax.

Four-lined plant bug feeds on a wide variety of herbaceous perennials. It overwinters in the egg stage.

Management: Remove weeds and plant debris from adjacent areas. Contact insecticides may be applied when nymphs and adults are present

Four-lined plant bug
Four-lined plant bug adults are slender, 6 mm long, green or yellow and oval-shaped with four distinct black stripes on the wings.

Plant bug damage
Four-lined plant bug feeding results in pale, round, depressed spots 1 to 3 mm long on leaves. These spots turn brown and may coalesce, forming large brown blotches.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).

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