Kudzu Bugs – Preferred Plants/How To Trap

Q: For the first time I’m seeing kudzu bugs in my garden. They are near my tomatoes, bush beans, Malabar spinach and bell peppers. I’m not sure which plants are attracting them to the garden. I tried to drown one of them. It eventually flew away after the sun dried up the water.

A: Bush beans are their likely target. These olive drab, pea-sized, waddling, odorous insects are kin to the stink bug. They don’t trouble home gardeners too much, but soybean and peanut growers fear an outbreak could consume their fields. They don’t bite, but control may be necessary. You can use any labeled outdoor insecticide to kill them. Remember that it’s best to spray in the evening, to avoid contact with honeybees. Drowning, as you have found, is not effective. A better organic control is to hang a couple of gallon milk jugs in the garden and coat them with Tangle-Trap Sticky Coating. Discard the jug when it’s full. Keep this in mind: you can’t eliminate kudzu bugs…. you can only manage their presence.