Capsid bugs on fruit

Abstract

Several species of capsid bug occur on fruit. The majority are beneficial and prey on pests such as spider mites, apple sucker and leafhoppers, but the two species described here are plant feeders and cause injury to many kinds of fruit and ornamental plants. The apple capsid (Plesiocoris rugicollis (Fallén)), formerly a major pest of apple in England, was eradicated from commercial orchards soon after DDT came into general use in the late 1940s; it is now only an occasional pest of this crop in gardens and unsprayed orchards. The common green capsid (Lygocoris pabulinus (L.)) is a much more common species and attacks cane and bush fruits, occasionally strawberry, a wide range of shrubs and herbaceous plants and, to a lesser extent, apple, pear and other tree fruits.