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Apple red bug

Lygidea mendax[4]

The apple red bug is a small plant bug with a bright red head and thorax whose nymphs feed on young apple and pear fruit and shoot tips; it is a minor pest today, but its punctures leave dimples and rough russet scars.[1][2][3]

Group
Insect
Order
Hemiptera
Family
Miridae
US records
2 states
Sources
4 cited
Updated
2026-10-19

No licensed photo of this species is available yet; the identification notes below describe what to look for.

On this page
  1. Identification
  2. Look-alikes
  3. Where it lives
  4. Biology
  5. Damage and signs
  6. Health risk
  7. Control
  8. Related profiles
  9. Common questions
  10. Sources

How to identify it

  • Adults are about 1/4 inch long, with an orange to bright red head and thorax, black antennae and mostly brown wings with red outer edges.[1][2][3]
  • Damaged fruit shows a sap droplet at first, then dimples or small, rough, flat, brownish russet scars; shoot-tip leaves may be distorted.[2][1]

Look-alikes

Look-alikeHow to tell them apart
Tarnished plant bugA related plant bug that also dimples fruit, but it is brownish with a cream-colored triangle (scutellum) on its back rather than a red head and thorax.[2][3]

Where it lives

It occurs in most fruit-growing states and provinces of eastern North America, from the northeastern and north-central United States into eastern Canada.[2][3]

US map: public records from 2 states since 1990 (GBIF).

Biology and life cycle

It spends the winter as eggs that females insert into bark lenticels on small twigs; nymphs hatch before apple bloom (about mid-May in Quebec).[1][3]

Nymphs mature in June, adults appear about mid-June, and they are gone by the end of July after laying the eggs for next year.[1][3]

Damage and signs

  • Nymph and adult feeding on leaf buds, shoots and young fruit causes distorted leaves and dimpled or russet-scarred apples and pears.[1][2][3]

Health risk

It feeds only on plants; the Connecticut station, Michigan State and the Quebec study mention no risk to people.[1][2][3]

Control

Pesticides

Control is seldom needed. A dormant horticultural oil spray may kill the overwintering eggs, and orchards that need it can spray at the end of bloom or soon after petal fall.[1][2]

Common questions

What caused the small rough scars and dimples on my apples?
Plant bugs such as the apple red bug or tarnished plant bug can cause it; their nymphs puncture the young fruit.[2][1]
When is the apple red bug active?
Nymphs hatch before bloom and feed into June; adults are around from mid-June to the end of July.[1][3]

Sources

  1. Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, “Plant Pest Handbook: Apple (Malus).” portal.ct.gov/caes/plant-pest-handbook/ppha/apple-malus (accessed 2026-10-19)
  2. Michigan State University IPM Program, “Apple red bug (IPM insect and disease profiles).” www.canr.msu.edu/ipm/diseases/apple_red_bug (accessed 2026-10-19)
  3. American Museum of Natural History, Planetary Biodiversity Inventory library (PDF), “Plant bugs on apple trees in Quebec (S. A. Braimah, L. A. Kelton and R. K. Stewart, Phytoprotection).” research.amnh.org/pbi/library/0065-165.pdf (accessed 2026-10-19)
  4. iNaturalist, “Lygidea mendax taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1374151 (accessed 2026-10-06)

Updated 2026-10-19. Built from sourced records. Spot an error? Tell us.