The fourlined plant bug is very common on perennials. The adult is greenish yellow with 4 black lines running down the back. It is flat and slender and aobut ¼ in long. The immature stage (seen here) is bright red or orange with black spots on the segment behind the head. As they mature, a yellow stripe appears on each side of the wing pads. They feed for about 6 weeks. Plant bugs move rapidly and try to hide out of sight when disturbed. Feeding damage appears as spotting on the upper leaf surface. The injury can resemble spotting caused by disease. Depending on the plant, the spotting on leaves may be dark or light to dark tan. The spots are caused by plant bugs feeding on the plant juices and injecting a toxin when feeding. Susceptible plants include Heuchera, Dahlia, Chrysanthemum, Rudbeckia, Heliopsis, Lavandula, Lupinus, Paeonia, Coreopsis and Geranium Russian Sage (in photo).
