Leptoglossus zonatus

Taxobox
name = "Leptoglossus zonatus"

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regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hemiptera
familia = Coreidae
genus = "Leptoglossus"
species = "L. zonatus"
binomial = "Leptoglossus zonatus"
binomial_authority = Dallas, 1852

"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. [http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/enpp/ento/l.zonatus.html Florida Department of Agriculture Pest Alert] ]

This leaf-footed bug is one of the two major pests of physic nut plants in Nicaragua.Grimm, C. and F. Guharay. (1998). Control of leaf-footed bug "Leptoglossus zonatus" and shield-backed bug "Pachycoris klugii" with entomopathogenic fungi. "Biocontrol Science and Technology" 8:3 365-76.] In Honduras, where the bug is known commonly as "chinche patona" (large-legged bug), it is a minor garden pest.Schaefer, C. W. and A. R. Panizzi. (2000). " [http://books.google.com/books?id=AVcBI0GL-fQC&pg=PA369&lpg=PA369&dq=leptoglossus+zonatus&source=web&ots=xVSxdCb_RZ&sig=rk4vaGTiSIfT_vqnWK_bABORw7g&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result Heteroptera of Economic Importance] ". CRC Press pg. 369. ISBN 0849306957] 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".

References