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OU TB REA KS O F THE BR OAD -HEADED B UG
Esperanza texana By C.S. Clem, K. Kesheimer, and D.W. Held
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Al ab ama Tu rf Tim es > >> Wint er 2022
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his odd story begins with email or text messages from consultants, landscape managers, and agrochemical distributors about outbreaks of small bugs (they meant true bugs or hemipterans) in bermudagrass and zoysiagrass lawns. These were mostly accounts from the southern half of Alabama in 2019 with one or two incidents around Birmingham in 2015 and 2017. In most cases, there were no insects to identify, or quality pictures useful for an identification of the insects. The small sap-sucking bugs were guilty by association with damage to turfgrass. The persons on site were certain that these outbreaks and the associated damage were not caused by chinch bugs, but it may have been damage from two-lined spittle bugs. The pests implicated with this damage were from a little-known family of true bugs, Alydidae (the broad-headed bugs). The insects that have been confirmed were the adult stages of Esperanza texana (sorry, no common name). This brownish colored, elongated sap sucking insect is approximately 5 mm (0.2 inch) long with elongated antennae and a speckled appearance to the body and legs (Figure 1). What do we know? Esperanza texana is not a new invasive species, but it is possible humans have contributed to an expansion of its natural range. Collection records from TX to SC and FL go back to the early to mid-1900’s, but it was not documented in AL until relatively recently by Dr. Charles Ray of Auburn University. Dr. Ray and Dr. Clem published an inventory of Alabama broad-headed bugs in 2016. By examining 550 museum specimens and insects from field collections, they concluded there are eight species in six genera in the state, with E. texana reported from nine counties. Esperanza texana is a member of the subfamily Micrelytrinae, which also includes two other species in the state, Stenocoris furcifera and Stenocoris tipuloides. These three species feed exclusively on grasses or sedges as host plants. So far, E. texana alone has been associated with turfgrass damage, not the other two. When broad-headed bugs are present in damaged turfgrass, they may co-exist with other sap-sucking insects that also feed on grass, like plant bugs and spittle bugs. There are records of E. texana occurring in only 11 counties throughout Alabama (nine noted in the previous survey plus Talladega and Jefferson counties). Given the availability of grass and sedge hosts in all counties, E. texana is likely present but undetected throughout Alabama. This year and in previous years, reports of damage to zoysiagrass (Meyer) and bermudagrass have been reported primarily in summer to early fall (most in September). The damage (Figure 2) is not distinct. Infested areas are discolored which could be mistaken for damage from other grass-feeding pests or drought. Damage has been reported in established lawns, not new, and in the literature, populations are also associated with damage to bermudagrass in pastures. Damage is almost exclusively reported in turf exposed to direct sunlight, with one report of spring damage to bermudagrass in a shaded area.
FIGURE 1. An adult Esperanza texana. The brown coloration with a speckled appearance to the narrow body, and a head wider than the body distinguishes E. texana from other sap sucking true bugs in turfgrass. Photo by C.S. Clem. FIGURE 2. Damage associated with populations of adult Esperanza texana. Photo taken by David DeWeese, DeWeese Lawns (Talladega County, AL, Sept 2021), used with permission.
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