Why do gardeners need to identify garden bugs before taking action against them? When should we leave them to their natural activities? A look at assassin bugs, leaf footed bugs, squash bugs and stink ...

A: These are immature leaf-footed bugs (Leptoglossus pyllopus), close relatives to stinkbugs. They have similar piercing mouthparts. They will suck the fluids out of your ripening tomatoes and cause ...

Have you ever noticed a small, orange-and-black critters congregating on your summer vegetable plants? Similarly, have you encountered a larger one that appears to be wearing bell bottom pants? A ...

Stink bugs and leaf footed bugs are close cousins in biology and crime. They have similar life cycles. Both kinds of bugs have shield shaped bodies, stink glands and piercing-sucking mouth parts. They ...

These insects are the nymphs of leaf-footed bugs. They will grow up to be the large, brown leaf-footed bugs often spotted in gardens. They damage vegetables. For instance, they cause tomato fruit to ...

It has been an excellent year for tomato and peach production. But unfortunately, leaf-footed bugs, stink bugs and spider mites are taking advantage of the bounty. Leaf-footed bugs are up to 1 inch ...

Since relatively few plants really thrive in the Mojave Desert, we’d rather not share our limited bounty with insect pests. Around this time of year, however, gardeners who have pomegranate trees need ...

It's hard to ignore leaf-footed bugs. They're big, with long legs and antennae and a tubular, piercing "beak." When viewed from above, they seem to have a "X" marked across their backs. Their most ...

This column is written by the Master Gardeners of Yolo County each month. It provides answers to selected questions that recently came into the UCCE Master Gardener – Yolo County Help Desk. Question: ...

For many of us, the tomato harvest this year was dismal. Heavy rains moved in just as fruit was ripening, resulting in fruit splits and a host of disease problems. And fruit the rain didn't damage, ...

Stress is a fact of life – everyone feels stressed at one time or another, and we all have ways of dealing with it. Stressors like weather, insects, chemicals and other environmental factors cause ...