You've found the famous Dave's Garden website! Join this friendly global community that shares tips and ideas for home and gardens, along with seeds and plants!
Check out the DG homepage for a brief overview of what you'll find in this gardening mega-site.
Login
If you don't have an account yet, visit the registration page to sign up.
This bug has been reportedly found in the following regions:
Tucson, Arizona Deer, Arkansas Marion, Arkansas Dublin, California Penn Valley, California Lula, Georgia Brandon, Mississippi Madison, Mississippi Summerville, South Carolina
On Aug 12, 2006, Magpye from NW Qtr, AR (Zone 6a) wrote:
These bugs are about 1/2 inch (14-17 mm) long, steel blue in color, and have reddish-yellowish markings.
Largus succinctus (L.), like other true bugs, has sucking mouth parts. Being general feeders, they suck juices from a variety of plants such as oak, wax-myrtle and other woodland foliage and sometimes from weeds. Generally, they cause little damage to the plants upon which they feed. However, in the fall they leave their host plants and seek cracks and crevices in which to spend the winter. They also mate and disperse. Large numbers of these bugs in the landscape can cause some concern.
Description: Both families (Largidae and Pyrrhocoridae) of these bugs are similar in appearance and habits. The largus bug, Largus succinctus (Linnaeus) (Largidae), is about 1/2-inch long, elongated oval and flattened, steel blue in color, and have reddish-yellowish markings around margins of the shield behind the head (pronotum) and abdomen. The outer margins of the pronotum are rounded.
Habitat, Food Source(s), Damage: Nymphs and adults have sucking mouthparts. Although largus bugs are general feeders, sucking juices from a variety of plants such as oak, wax myrtle and other woodland foliage or, occasionally, weeds, they generally cause little injury to plants upon which they feed.
Largus bugs generally cause little injury to plants upon which they feed. However, in the fall nymphs and adults leave their host plants and seek cracks and crevices in which to spend the winter. They can be common around the home during the fall, crawling randomly around the ground. Cotton stainer nymphs (second and third instars) feed together (gregariously) on cotton bolls while that last stage and adults wander freely over the plant. On long-staple cotton varieties, cotton stainers injure developing bolls by puncturing the seeds and causing plant sap to exude from the feeding sites, resulting in yellow-stained lint and poorly developed bolls.
Pest Status: Largus bugs are seed feeders, occasionally a nuisance when in high numbers around the home; cotton stainers, or "red bugs", occasionally damage long-staple cotton; both are medically harmless.
On Jun 15, 2007, mjfulgham from Madison, MS wrote:
These bugs are everywhere in my yard and my neighborhood. I could not identify them because I was trying to identify the nymph, which was what I was seeing. I also added pictures of the nymph.
I emailed an entomologist in my state and he sent me this information:
"These are nymphs of the Largus Bug, Largus succinctus. They are also sometimes referred to as 'bordered plant bugs' because of the orange margin that the adults have around the outside of their back. They are common in MS, especially in areas with lots of pine trees. They feed on various weeds, but I have never seen them damage any ornamental or food plants. I am not sure why they are associated with pines; they do not seem to damage them."
On Sep 24, 2008, trockyh from Penn Valley, CA wrote:
I have this insect in my garden and it has destroyed much of my garden. They have eaten corn, tomato, squash and just about anything else. I put a couple blue berries in pots that had blueberries and they ate the fruit. There are thousands and I don't know how to get rid of them. The nymphs and adults are sucking everything. I need help.
