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Spined Stilt Bug

Jalysus wickhami[3]

The spined stilt bug is a slender, long-legged brown bug that lives on hairy-leaved plants like tomato and tobacco; it preys on caterpillar eggs but also feeds on the plant and can damage tomato flowers and fruit.[1][2]

Group
Insect
Order
Hemiptera
Family
Berytidae
US records
30 states
Sources
3 cited
Updated
2026-10-15
Slender brown spined stilt bug with very long legs on a leaf
Slender brown spined stilt bug with very long legs on a leaf. (c) Patrick O'Brien, some rights reserved (CC BY) — via iNaturalist, CC BY 4.0
On this page
  1. Identification
  2. Look-alikes
  3. Where it lives
  4. Biology
  5. Damage and signs
  6. Health risk
  7. Control
  8. Common questions
  9. Sources

How to identify it

  • Adults are about 1/4 to 1/3 inch (7-9 mm), brown to brick red, with very thin bodies and long legs and antennae; the last antenna segment is enlarged.[1][2]
  • Nymphs are yellowish green to green and smaller.[1]

Look-alikes

Look-alikeHow to tell them apart
Jalysus spinosusA similar stilt bug prefers grasses and is limited to eastern North America, while the spined stilt bug lives on hairy, sticky-leaved plants.[1]

Where it lives

Found across North America from Canada to Mexico and recorded in almost every continental U.S. state.[1][2]

US map: public records from 30 states since 1990 (GBIF).

Biology and life cycle

Adults overwinter under grasses and leaves and lay eggs on weeds and other plants in spring; nymphs pass through five stages and need both plant and animal food.[1]

In North Carolina there are typically two generations a year.[1]

Damage and signs

  • It eats aphids, caterpillar eggs and other slow insects, including tobacco hornworm and budworm eggs.[1][2]
  • On tomatoes, especially in greenhouses, feeding can kill stems beyond the feeding site, kill flowers and leave fruit misshapen or blotched white under the skin.[2]

Health risk

None to people or pets.[1][2]

Control

Prevention

Penn State notes that control in tomatoes hasn't been studied; the products tested decades ago are no longer used, so there is no current tested recommendation for gardens.[2]

Biological control

It is a beneficial predator in tobacco; Bt sprays for caterpillars don't harm it.[1]

Common questions

What is the very skinny, long-legged bug on my tomato plants?
Likely a spined stilt bug.[1][2]
Is the spined stilt bug good or bad?
Both: it eats caterpillar eggs but can damage tomato flowers and fruit.[1][2]
Why do my tomatoes have white blotches?
Stilt bug feeding on unripe fruit is one cause of white blotches under the skin.[2]

Sources

  1. NC State Extension, “Spined Stilt Bug in Tobacco (PDIC Factsheet).” content.ces.ncsu.edu/spined-stilt-bug-in-tobacco (accessed 2026-10-15)
  2. Penn State Extension, “Spined Stilt Bug.” extension.psu.edu/spined-stilt-bug/ (accessed 2026-10-15)
  3. iNaturalist, “Jalysus wickhami taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/416821 (accessed 2026-10-06)

Updated 2026-10-15. Built from sourced records. Spot an error? Tell us.