South Texas farmers are seeing yet another invasive pest, the bagrada bug, which can cause major crop damage, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Weslaco in AgriLife Today.
The pest comes to South Texas from Mexico and is a native of Africa. It was first reported in the U.S. in California in 2008, then to El Paso and from there it moved to Mexico.
Bagrada bugs feed on leaves and fruit of most brassicas—cabbage, broccoli, radishes, Brussels sprouts, kale and others. Also, it feeds on tomatoes, figs, peppers and nursery plants. The pest doesn’t seem to be a threat to either sorghum or corn.
The insect is probably a cousin to a stink bug, the harlequin, but it’s smaller and less colorful. It is capable of flying and moves quickly. Farmers often notice the bugs too late after the damage to crops are done. It either totally destroys a plant or leaves it too damaged to produce a crop.
“The question is, how far it will spread from here?” said Dr. Raul Villanueva, AgriLife Extension entomologist. “That it was able to make its way out of El Paso, where we thought it was geographically isolated, tells us that it could quickly make its way to the Gulf Coast states and the Eastern U.S.”