Leaffooted pine seedbug

Leptoglossus corculus (Say) (Hemiptera: Coreidae)

Orientation to pest

The leaffooted pine seed bug, Leptoglossus corculus (Say), is a sucking insect that damages cones in pine seed orchards in the southern United States. Both adults and nymphs fed on seeds in cones of various pines, greatly reducing production of viable seed. There are several generations per year in the southern United States.

Hosts commonly attacked

The leaffooted pine seed bug commonly attacks cones of loblolly (Pinus taeda L.), slash (Pinus elliottii Engelm.), shortleaf (Pinus echinata Mill.), Virginia (Pinus virginiana Mill.), eastern white (Pinus strobus L.), pitch (Pinus rigida Mill.) and Table Mountain (Pinus pungens Lamb.) pines, as well as cones of some spruce (Picea).

Distribution

The leaffooted pine seed bug occurs throughout the eastern United States.

Images of the leaffooted pine seedbug

R. Scott Cameron, Advanced Forest Protection, Inc., Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024	Lacy L. Hyche, Auburn University, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024	Tim Tigner, Virginia Department of Forestry, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024	Larry R. Barber, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024
Figure 1. Adult leaffooted pine seedbug. See the flat, expanded lower section of hind legs	Figure 2. String of eggs of leaffooted pine seedbug	Figure 3. Nymph of leaffooted pine seedbug	Figure 4. Leaffooted pine seedbug adult feeding on immature cone of pine

Important biological control agents related to this pest species

The parasitoid Ooencyrtus leptoglossi Yoshimoto is known to attack the eggs of this species.

Web links for information on the leaffooted pine seed bug

• Seed and Cone Insects Fact sheet | ForestPests.org | USDA Forest Service, Southern Region

Articles

• DeBarr, G. L. 1979. Importance of the seedbugs Leptoglossus corculus (Say) (Hemiptera: Coreidae) and Tetyra bipunctata (H.-S.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) and their control in southern pine seed orchards. Proceedings: a symposium on flowering and seed development in trees. Starkville, Mississippi. Southern Forest Experiment Station, pp. 330-341.