| Most plant bugs are considered aesthetic nuisance pests since they rarely kill their host plants. However, leaf and flower distortion can be very severe and can greatly reduce the aesthetic value of landscape plants. Plant bugs appear to insert their mouth stylets into host plant tissues and inject a tissue dissolving saliva. They then suck out the liquified plant tissues. This produces a typical sunken lesion which can be circular or angular, depending on the host plant leaf structure. Feeding on immature leaves can cause considerable leaf distortion - cupping, twisting and crumpling. Occasionally, the lesion spots dry and fall out, producing small holes in leaves. |
