Reprint from Agri-Life
Insurgence of Mozena bug concerns crop producers, homeowners alike AGRILIFE EXTENSION EXPERTS OFFER ADVICE
“They are crawling all over my 10 acres. There are thousands, probably hundreds of thousands of them invading my property. They are killing my vegetation, my trees, my plants. What are they, where are they coming from, and how do I treat and control to keep what trees they have not killed alive?”
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rop producers, ranchers and homeowners are reaching out to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts across the South Plains as above-average num bers of the Mozena obtusa Uhler plant bugs are being seen. Pat Porter, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension entomologist, Lubbock, and Kerry Siders, AgriLife Extension integrated pest management agent in Hockley, Cochran and Lamb counties, said their phones have been busy with resident reports, questions and concerns.
About the Mozena bug Literature and research is limited on the insect, so there is still much to be learned about the bug and how much harm, and to what, it might do if the infestation is large enough. The Mozena bug was last an issue for the South Plains in August 2014. The bug is in the family Coreidae, a group of insects given the common name of leaf-footed bugs. “The common thread from 2014 to 2022 is our drought conditions,” said Siders. While they can be quite annoying, they are not harmful to humans, pets or most homeowner plants unless the infestation levels are very high. The insects’ primary host is mesquite, a legume. They also feed on peas and beans. Both Porter and Siders documented them feeding on
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Two Mozena bug nymphs on a cotton leaf. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Suhas Vyavhare)
corn and cotton in 2014. “I noted them in cotton back in 2014, but not the sheer numbers I am seeing now, and it is a month earlier,” Siders said. “We are getting reports from the Midland and Odessa area indicating high populations there as well.” Porter said he got the first identification requests this year on July 1 for immature Mozena in their nymph stage. He’s received requests for bug identification as far south as Odessa. “The requests this week are still for nymphs — adults yet to come,” he said. “The small landowners, like 5-10
