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Description Adults are small greenish, yellow or brown bugs with darker markings. The wingless nymphs are yellow with five black dots on the body.
Their lifecycle Adults overwinter in leaf litter and lay their eggs inside the leaves, buds, and stems of plants. There can be as many as five generations per year.
Where they live Across North America.
Plants they attack Peaches, apples, strawberries, potatoes, and corn.
Why they're a problem Both adults and nymphs feed by sucking the juices from fruits and vegetables. Their toxic saliva deforms the plant parts they feed on, causing stems and buds to wilt and fruit to become catfaced (puckered and scarred), making it inedible.
Organic damage control Keep the areas around susceptible plants weed free through the growing season to remove TPB habitat. Use floating row covers in early spring. Attract beneficials such as big-eyed bugs, minute pirate bugs, and parasitic wasps by planting clover, alfalfa, or goldenrod at least 5 yards from the crop. Spray garlic oil, kaolin clay, or the fungus Beauveria bassiana on affected plants as a last resort.
