There have been some reports of lygus in sugarbeet in the RRV in the past week.  Populations currently seem to be low but should be watched.  New thresholds for treatment have been set by research from NDSU; if populations exceed 1 lygus per plant (either adults or nymphs) and if the crop is at least three weeks from harvest, an application will likely show an economic return. 

Lygus concentrate in the crown of the plant, so this is the first place to look.  Lygus adults are light to dark brown with either a white "V" or 3 white spots behind the head and nymphs are bright green, with 5 black spots on their blacks and they move very rapidly (Figure 1).  Lygus feeding causes damage to younger leaves in the crown and it is suspected this stimulates further vegetative growth (development of new leaves) rather than concentrating energy into sugar deposition in the root.  Damage can be seen as both crinkled and deformed younger leaves and black 'tarring' on all leaves (Figure 1).  Associated with the lygus this year are small shiny black beetles with 4 orange or yellow spots on their backs.  These are Sap Beetles (Figure 2) which preferentially feed on damaged fruits and vegetables, etc.  I doubt these beetle are directly damaging the plant and suspect they're feeding on the tarring (lygus 'honeydew').

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