Stephen Albert
Big-eyed bugs are beneficial insects.
Big-eyed bug adults and larvae eat many garden pests including aphids, cabbage loopers, caterpillars, chinch bugs, flea beetles, leafhoppers, Mexican bean beetles, spider mites, thrips, whiteflies and the eggs of aphids, corn earworms, and mites.
Attract big-eyed bugs to the garden by planting goldenrod, pigweed, and soybeans. Big-eyed bugs feed on plant sap and nectar in addition to insect pests. A diversity of perennial plants will give them places to shelter and find food.
Big-eyed bugs have a broad head and wide-set bulging eyes. Adults are black, grey, or brown and about ⅛ to ¼ inch long. They have clear wings that overlap on their backs. Nymphs are smaller but do not have wings.
Female big-eyed bugs lay two or three eggs each day on stems and leaf undersides beginning in spring. The eggs hatch in about two weeks and begin to feed immediately. Nymphs develop for four to six weeks then molt into adults. Adults overwinter in garden debris and weedy areas.
Big-eyed bugs have piercing-sucking mouthparts and feed by stabbing their prey and sucking out the internal juices. An adult big-eyed bug can eat as many as 80 spider mites in a day; a larva will eat up to 1600 mites as it matures. Nymphs and adults can survive on nectar and honeydew when prey is scarce.
Big-eyed bugs are common in western North America.
Scientific name: Genus Geocoris
