Diet

• Adults and nymphs: Primarily plant-feeding, using their piercing-sucking mouthparts to feed on plant juices, developing fruits, seeds and flowers.

• Many species are particularly attracted to developing seeds and fruit, where their feeding can cause shrivelling, discolouration or premature fruit drop.

• Their diet is generally broad, and different Leptoglossus species utilise trees, shrubs, vines and herbaceous plants.

• Several species are recognised as agricultural pests, particularly where they feed on fruit, nuts and seeds.

Range

• Leptoglossus is a genus of leaf-footed bugs (Coreidae) in the subfamily Coreinae, tribe Anisoscelini.

• It is primarily a New World genus, with more than 60 described species and a distribution extending throughout North, Central and South America.

• Species of Leptoglossus are well represented in western and southern Mexico, including tropical regions such as Guerrero.

• They are occasionally sighted in Zihua, where the warm climate and abundance of fruiting and seed-producing plants provide suitable habitat.

Habitat

• Found in tropical dry forest, tropical deciduous forest, woodland, scrub, agricultural areas, gardens and forest edges.

• Adults are commonly encountered on trees, shrubs and vines, particularly when plants are flowering or producing fruit and seeds.

• Around Zihua, look on fruiting trees, flowering shrubs and vines, as well as around fallen fruit and seeds.

• Some species are attracted to lights at night and may turn up around buildings.

Size

• Adult length: generally about 15–20 mm (0.6–0.8 in), although individual species vary considerably.

• Body elongated and moderately robust.

• The most distinctive feature is the expanded, leaf-like hind tibiae, which give the group its common name.

• Colouration is commonly brown, greyish-brown or reddish-brown, often with contrasting white or yellow markings across the forewings.

• The antennae are long and four-segmented, and the hind legs can be quite conspicuous.