Hemi-cylindrical eggs - Leptoglossus zonatus

Description:

Eggs are deposited in single rows on foliage or stem tissue and hatch in 5 - 7 days. Nymphs develop through five instars in 25 - 30 days. These insects overwinter as adults. Leaf-footed bugs have a habit of aggregating into large colonies; one tree may be swarming with them while a neighboring tree is entirely free of infestation. Adults have scent glands and when they are disturbed can emit a distinctive, sharp odor. Early instars are believed to have a preference for wild hosts. Most often, it is the adults that attack ripening fruit. (http://idtools.org/id/citrus/pests/facts...)

Habitat:

Host plant: Fabaceae

Notes:

Leptoglossus zonatus is a species of leaf-footed bug, a type of true bug. It is found throughout much of South America, Central America, Mexico, and the southwestern United States. The bug is two centimeters in length, gray in color, with a zigzagging whitish band across its back and two distinctive yellowish spots on its anterior pronotum, the identifying characteristic for the species.

This leaf-footed bug is one of the two major pests of physic nut plants in Nicaragua. In Honduras, where the bug is known commonly as chinche patona (large-legged bug), it is a minor garden pest. It is a pest of many crops in Brazil and it may transmit the plant pathogen Herpetomonas macgheei, a trypanosomatid protozoan. It breeds in pomegranate and desert willow trees, and the gregarious bright orange nymphs aggregate there. It is a serious pest of satsuma oranges in Louisiana, causing damage by feeding and by transmitting the pathogenic yeast Nematospora coryli.

Biological pest control agents found to be effective against this insect include the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana.

Obs: Esse inseto, medindo cerca de 25 mm, ataca além do milho, vários outros cultivos, como sorgo, feijão, soja, tomate e citros. O seu dano se verifica através da sucção do grão, o que ocasiona uma redução na produtividade da planta inseto. O inseto pode também estar associado a algumas doenças da espiga como Fusarium, Penicillium e Cephalosporium.

A fêmea do inseto geralmente é maior que o macho. Os ovos são colocados enfileirados, aderidos ao substrato vegetal. Inicialmente são de coloração esverdeada, tornando-se próximo a eclosão, completamente marrons. O período de incubação é em média, 9,6 dias. As formas imaturas (ninfas) mantêm-se agrupadas ate o final do segundo estádio, após o qual se dispersam. Decorridos cerca de 30 dias após a eclosão, surgem os primeiros adultos. Em milho os adultos podem ser vistos alimentando-se nas espigas, onde seus estiletes atravessam a palha. (http://panorama.cnpms.embrapa.br/insetos......)