Integrated Pest Management
Ash Plant Bug
Tropidosteptes spp.
Pest Description
- adults: 3/8 inch; pale yellow, brown to black; yellowish-green triangle on back between wings
- nymphs: similar in appearance but are smaller, ovoid, wingless and may vary in color
- eggs: oblong and laid on bark or undersides of leaves
Host Plants, Diet & Damage
- ash
- feed on sap of ash leaves
- white stippling on top of leaves; wilting, curling, stunted and drying leaves
- brown to black fecal spots on damaged leaves
- browning leaves and leaf drop later in the season
- most damage occurs on young foliage in late-May
Biology, Life Cycle & Damaging Life Stage
- overwinter as eggs near buds or within bark fissures
- egg hatch begins in late-April to mid-May
- first generation develops into adults and eggs are laid in June on leaf midribs
- second generation feeds from July until frost
- second generation eggs laid in late summer and fall
- two generations per year
- nymphs and adults are the damaging stages
IPM Recommendations
- Manage trees to improve or maintain health.
- Damage is mostly aesthetic; tolerate pest.
- Ash plant bugs on young or nursery trees may require management.
- Apply an insecticide (carbamate; insecticidal soap; pyrethroid) about 1 week after budbreak to manage young first generation nymphs. Target the undersides of foliage.