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How to identify it
- Adults are about 1/4 inch long, oval and fragile-looking, bronze to dark brown with yellowish, white and black markings that give a brassy, tarnished look.[1][2][3]
- A yellow V- or Y-shaped mark sits on the wings, and the back third of the wings slants down toward the tip of the abdomen.[3][1]
- Nymphs are wingless, green to greenish yellow, with black dots on the back of older nymphs.[1][3]
- They are very active and take flight at the slightest disturbance.[2]
Look-alikes
| Look-alike | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Stink bugs | Stink bugs are wider, shield-shaped bugs with a large triangle on the back, though their fruit damage can look almost identical to plant bug damage.[4] |
| Poor pollination (strawberries) | Small berries from poor pollination have hollow, hair-like projections instead of seeds; deformed berries with developed seeds point to plant bug injury.[2] |
Where it lives
Found throughout the eastern half of the United States and west into the Great Plains.[3]
Biology and life cycle
Adults and older nymphs overwinter in leaf litter, under rocks and in other protected places, becoming active on the first warm spring days.[1][3][2]
Females insert eggs into soft plant tissue such as buds, young stems or leaf veins, and insecticides have no effect on that egg stage.[1][3]
Nymphs pass through five stages in about 12 to 40 days, depending on temperature, and there are several generations a year.[1][3][2]
It has been recorded on 385 plants, and populations often build up in flowering weeds such as fleabane, ragweed, goldenrod, wild carrot and clover.[1]
Damage and signs
- Both nymphs and adults inject a toxic saliva while feeding that discolors, distorts and sometimes kills plant tissue.[3][1]
- Feeding on young fruit causes catfacing, with sunken, deformed or scarred areas; catfaced fruit is safe to eat but unsightly.[3]
- On strawberries, feeding on seeds of young berries causes small, seedy, woody button berries that fail to mature.[2][3]
- Feeding below flower buds can make flowers wilt and die, and attacks on shoot tips cause stunting, bud loss and tip die-back.[3][1]
- Hosts include strawberries, asparagus, celery, beans, potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, peaches, carrots and cut flowers.[1]
Health risk
Tarnished plant bugs feed on plant sap and pose no risk to people; their harm is deformed fruit, buds and shoots.[3][1]
Control
Prevention
Keep weeds from flowering in and around the garden, since the bugs build up on flowering weeds before moving into crops.[1][2][3]
Don't mow or cut nearby weeds while strawberries are blooming and setting fruit, because the bugs move into the patch when weeds are cut.[2]
Minor injury is tolerable; some varieties with very hairy fruit may resist damage.[3]
Pesticides
Sprays are often only partly effective because the bugs fly off and return, and they don't affect eggs inside plant tissue; reserve them for severe infestations as buds form.[3][1]
Common questions
- Why are my strawberries small, hard and seedy?
- Tarnished plant bugs feeding on young berries cause button berries; if the deformed berry has developed seeds, plant bug injury is the likely cause.[2]
- Is catfaced fruit safe to eat?
- Yes. Fruit catfaced by tarnished plant bug feeding can be eaten safely, though it looks scarred and deformed.[3]
Sources
- Penn State Extension, “Tarnished Plant Bug (updated June 24, 2026).” extension.psu.edu/tarnished-plant-bug (accessed 2026-10-06)
- Penn State Extension, “Tarnished Plant Bug on Strawberries in Home Gardens (updated March 31, 2026).” extension.psu.edu/tarnished-plant-bug-on-strawberries-in-home-gardens (accessed 2026-10-06)
- Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, “Tarnished Plant Bug, Publication 444-227 (ENTO-476NP), December 2021.” www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/444/444-227/tarnished-plant-bug.html (accessed 2026-10-06)
- University of California Statewide IPM Program, “Stink Bugs (Pest Notes, Home and Landscape).” ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/stink-bugs/ (accessed 2026-10-06)
- iNaturalist, “Lygus lineolaris taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/84507 (accessed 2026-10-06)