Four-lined Plant Bugs on Herbs

Four-lined Plant Bugs cause dark, sunken spots on the leaves of herbs and many other garden plants when they feed on the cell contents of leaves. These dark spots eventually turn brown and die.

Four-lined Plant Bugs have one generation per year. The young insects (nymphs) and adults are usually active from late April to June in Maryland. Their feeding damage does not persist all year long. If their populations are high, they can cause quite a lot of aesthetic damage to plants, but most plants will grow out of the damage and produce healthy damage later in the season. Because the bugs move so quickly, they are difficult to control with a contact insecticide such as insecticidal soap or horticultural oil. For damage on herb plants like this marjoram, trim out the spotted leaves. New leaves will grow out later in the season.
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