Gardening

Nezara: [Characteristics, Food, Elimination and Effects]

The nezara is a kind of bug that is usually problematic in orchards and gardens because its diet is based on plants.

It can be known as nezara, nezara viridula, green bug or stink bug.

These last references have to do with the structure of its body, which is green and with the fact that it gives off an unpleasant odor.

If you are having problems with them in your crops or you prefer to be informed in advance, here you have all the data you need. Shall we review them?

What is a nezara?

The Nezara is an insect of the Heteroptera order that seeks its food in crops that we normally have in home gardens.

Throughout their lives they appear in two phases, one is in the form of nymphs and then in the adult version.

While they are nymphs, they vary in color starting from brown and then turning to green, which they will maintain as adults.

The time it occupies since the egg hatches until it becomes an adult is influenced by the environmental conditions, occupying about 5 weeks on average.

It lives throughout the year, since it is capable of hibernating during the winter and returning to activities in spring, a time when it takes advantage of it to reproduce. Due to the short periods that their reproductive cycles occupy, nezaras can have 3 to 4 generations in the same year.

What characteristics do nezaras have?

To learn more about the Nezaras, you have to consider:

Life phases: it has two, that of nymph and adulthood. In the first it is a kind of worm, while in the second it has a green shell with straight sides and a triangular lower part. These two periods are usually covered in a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 10 weeks.
Colours: Adults are always bright light green, but nymphs vary in shade as they develop. First they are brown, then they become black with a series of white spots and culminate in the green color with which they will become adults.
Smell: the nezara is also known as the stink bug because it has the ability to emit a nauseating aroma through its glands when it feels intimidated. It is a protection mechanism.
Eggs: the eggs are laid by the female nezaras and it is capable of going from 30 to 130 units in each cycle. Each year, a nezara can have 3 to 4 generations. These eggs are yellow and then turn orange.
Annual life: nezaras are active during the warm days of the year, going to rest (hibernation) when winter arrives to take shelter and return to action the following year.

What does a green bug do?

Any plague that affects the crops can damage them significantly. However, the green bug is not particularly harmful.

If the pest is not controlled, it could cause holes in the seedlings, which would lead them to dry out.

If the attack is worked on fruit, it will suffer growth problems in the area of the bite.

What does Nezara viridula eat?

Nezara can consume the green parts of almost any type of plant, having a special preference for horticultural ones.In any case, a greater preference is given to pepper and tomato crops.

What happens if I get bitten by a stink bug?

Stink bug bites are rare, but if they do occur there should be no major problems.

Normally, a small red lump appears that will itch but after a few days it will disappear.

In case it becomes infected, it will be necessary to seek medical attention.

What does it mean when a green bug appears?

It means that you will have to use control strategies to eradicate it from crops, although that is only mandatory if the attack is very strong. With the normal pest control that you can carry out thanks to the use of organic products and everyday life, it may be more than enough.

How to remove bedbugs from plants?

If you are the victim of a very strong bedbug attack, you could attack them in three different ways.

The first is to kill the crops for which they have a preference. This applies only in cases of continuous attacks of this pest.

In the case of chemical and biological products, the use will only respond to the specific problems you have with the pest, since it is not always necessary.

The best idea is to incorporate some organisms that are responsible for attacking insects by natural means of survival and avoid possible damage from the use of other products. It must be taken into account that the presence of green bugs in crops is not always harmful.

This is a species that intervenes within the food chain consuming certain types of organisms in some cases, so it can be useful.

What damage does the nezara cause?

The damage caused by the nezara is very low when compared to other types of pests that usually attack crops. In general, they produce bites on the soft areas of the plants, such as the leaves, leading them to dry out.

They can also attack the fruits, making them lose their commercial value. They are unlikely to cause a crop failure.

What types of crops does nezara affect?

Tomato plants are included here, as one of the most frequently attacked crops, as well as pepper plants.

They also count some fruit trees, cereal plants, melon plants, cucumbers, even ornamental plants.

Nezaras are one of the pests that cause the fewest headaches for crops. However, there are areas where they have become a real problem, such as in certain parts of the United States.

In any case, fighting them will not require too much work, being more profitable to prevent them from multiplying to complicated levels.