Fruit spotting bug & banana spotting bug (Amblypelta)

Fruit spotting bug / banana spotting bug (Amblypelta spp.): how to identify them and when to spray

Fruit spotting bug (Amblypelta nitida) and banana spotting bug (Amblypelta lutescens lutescens) are native Australian coreid bugs. They pierce fruit, flowers and young shoots and inject enzymes that collapse the tissue underneath. A few bugs can ruin a block of avocado, macadamia or tropical fruit. Damage is worst from about September–October through March–April (into May in some districts). North of the Tropic of Capricorn, breeding hardly stops.

This page is for commercial Australian growers and anyone searching fruit spotting bug, banana spotting bug, fruit-spotting bug, Amblypelta, avocado spotting bug or macadamia spotting bug. It covers identification, life cycle, spray timing, and how a contact pyrethrum spray works. Product discussed: Py-Bo (80 g/L pyrethrins + 320 g/L piperonyl butoxide, EC). Always read the current APVMA-approved label. The label is the law.

Fruit spotting bug, banana spotting bug and Amblypelta are not named pests on the Py-Bo label (APVMA 53738). Avocado and macadamia are not named crops. This is not a registered pest claim. Contact on labelled fruit uses only. This page does not authorise off-label use.

Identification and symptoms

The two species are cousins. You manage them the same way in the orchard. Identification still matters for records and for talking to your agronomist.

Adults: about 15 mm long, green-brown, winged. Fruit spotting bug (A. nitida) is usually a darker green. Banana spotting bug (A. l. lutescens) is a paler yellow-green. When you walk the row they fly off, drop to a lower limb, or slide around the far side of a fruit, leaf or branch.
Nymphs: five stages. They cannot fly. Early instars look ant-like, with long legs and antennae. Fruit spotting bug first instars are green and black; later instars orange-brown or green. Banana spotting bug nymphs are a lighter red, with light-red stippling around a pair of large black spots on the abdomen, and white rings around the scent-gland openings. Both species have a black, flattened second-last antennal segment. Disturbed nymphs often bail out and tumble through the canopy to the ground.
Eggs: about 1.7 mm, somewhat triangular with rounded corners, pale green when laid, darker with a slight opalescence as they age. Laid singly on the surface of flowers, fruit or foliage — not inserted into the leaf. A female lays only a few each day, up to about 150 in her life.

Damage (adults and nymphs both feed): sunken black spots and deep tissue breakdown from saliva enzymes. Newly set fruit is usually shed. Slightly larger fruit may hang with a dimple. Fruit that stays on the tree is often unmarketable because of the lesion around the feeding site. On avocado, expect shedding of small fruit, distortion and dimpling, and woody “stones” in the flesh where stung. On macadamia, young nutlets drop; later feeding can damage the kernel. On lychee and longan, losses are often from feeding on the developing seed, then fruit drop. Bug damage is more common on the upper part of the fruit. A few bugs do a lot of damage.

Do not confuse this with Queensland fruit fly. Cut through the entry. Fruit fly leaves a curved white egg about 3 mm long, or white-cream maggots. A bug-stabbed fruit has no grub inside.

Pressure is higher in coastal and sub-coastal orchards close to rainforest or scrub (umbrella tree, corky passion vine, white cedar, rough-leafed fig, rubber vine and other native hosts). Open plantings generally see less. Adults tend to work groups of trees, so you get hot spots rather than even cover — unless monitoring has slipped. A. nitida is common on the Atherton Tableland and relatively rare on the Queensland coast north of Gympie. A. l. lutescens is the more common coastal species and also troubles growers further south, not only banana growers. Banana is a poor breeding host; commercial bananas are usually attacked when preferred hosts are short.

Life cycle (what you are spraying, and what you are not)

Eggs hatch in about 6–7 days. Egg to adult averages about 34–38 days for banana spotting bug in summer, and about 42 days for fruit spotting bug. There are 3–4 generations a year: one in spring, one or two in summer, one in autumn. Autumn adults survive winter and start again when temperatures rise. In north Queensland, breeding is continuous.

Stage	Where	Rough timing	Hit by a foliar contact spray?
Egg	Singly on the surface of flowers, fruit or foliage	Hatch 6–7 days	Only if a droplet hits the egg — not guaranteed
Nymph (5 instars)	On fruit, flowers and shoots; cannot fly; often drop when disturbed	Egg to adult ~5–6 weeks in summer	Yes — if droplets contact them
Adult	In the canopy; flies, hides behind fruit or leaves, or drops	Autumn generation overwinters	Yes — if droplets contact them. They often leave when you approach.

Birds, egg parasitoids, assassin bugs, spiders and (in some districts) green tree ants help. They are support, not a commercial guarantee when fruit is setting and the buyer is waiting.

When to spray

Spray on fresh feeding and live bugs, not on a calendar. Contact insecticides only kill what they hit. Eggs that were missed, nymphs that dropped before the spray arrived, and adults that flew in from scrub keep the cycle going.

Walk hot spots first: orchard edges facing scrub, and trees that shed green fruit after set. Dissect fallen green fruit. Bug feeding leaves internal pin-pricks and tissue collapse, not maggots.
Coverage is the job: fruit surfaces, insides of clusters, undersides of leaves, and the far side of limbs. Bugs hide. Nymphs drop. Missed tissue equals live bugs.
A spray that kills nymphs and adults it hits does not reliably kill every egg on the surface. Those eggs can still hatch about a week later.
Plan a follow-up about two weeks after the first spray, once the next hatch is visible and before those nymphs become egg-laying adults. Keep monitoring fallen fruit; respray only if fresh damage continues.
Adults reinvade from native hosts. One clean pass does not lock the block for the season.

Bees: Pyrethrins are dangerous to bees. The Py-Bo label says do not spray any plants in flower while bees are foraging. Apply after dark, when bees are in the hive. Residues continue to keep bees off treated surfaces into the next morning until UV degrades the pyrethrins (often around mid-morning). Do not treat as bee-safe in daylight on open flowers.

How to spray Py-Bo

Product: Py-Bo Natural Pyrethrum Insecticidal Concentrate (APVMA 53738)
Actives: 80 g/L pyrethrins + 320 g/L piperonyl butoxide (PBO), emulsifiable concentrate
Mode: contact only. Knockdown of insects the spray actually hits. Not systemic. Not residual in the plant. Pyrethrins break down rapidly in sunlight.
Labelled horticultural situation: fruit and vegetable crops, cut flowers and ornamental plants.
Labelled horticultural pests: aphids, ants, cabbage moth and other caterpillars, earwigs, leafhoppers, thrips, whiteflies.
Rate on that labelled horticultural use: 1 mL Py-Bo per 1 L water, or 100 mL per 100 L water. Do not invent another rate.
Withholding period: 1 day on labelled edible plants (do not harvest for 1 day after application). Confirm crop listing and WHP on the current label.

Fruit spotting bug, banana spotting bug and Amblypelta are not named as pests on the Py-Bo label. Avocado and macadamia are not named as crops. The horticultural situation on the current public label is “Fruit and vegetable crops, cut flowers and ornamental plants.” A contact spray can kill exposed nymphs and adults if droplets hit them during a labelled fruit use. That is not a registered fruit spotting bug or banana spotting bug claim, and it is not a registered avocado or macadamia claim. Check the current APVMA-approved label (and any current APVMA permit) for your crop and pest before you spray. This page does not authorise off-label use.

Mix 1 mL/L (100 mL/100 L) in clean water only if that is the rate on the label for your situation.
Apply so droplets contact bugs on fruit, flowers and foliage, including the far side of limbs and undersides. Thorough coverage of all foliage, including undersurfaces, is what the label requires on the horticultural use.
Prefer dusk / after dark. Do not spray plants in flower while bees are foraging.
If live bugs remain after the spray has dried, they were not contacted — or they flew or dropped out of the way. Change volume, droplet size or nozzle angle on a test run.
Follow up about two weeks later if the next hatch or fresh feeding is visible.

Py-Bo is APVMA-approved for listed uses. Use only on crops, pests and situations named on the label. This page does not authorise off-label use.

What Py-Bo will not do

Will not make an unlabelled pest or crop legal. Fruit spotting bug, banana spotting bug, Amblypelta, avocado and macadamia are not named on the Py-Bo label.
Will not reliably kill every egg on fruit or foliage. Eggs are on the surface, but coverage is never perfect.
Will not kill nymphs that dropped to the ground before the spray arrived, or adults that flew to the far side of the tree.
Will not stop adults flying in from rainforest or scrub the next hot, windy day.
Will not kill Queensland fruit fly maggots inside fruit. Pyrethrum is contact. It does not reach pests inside plant tissue.
Will not give a season-long residual. UV degrades pyrethrins; that is why WHP is one day.
Will not replace coverage. Contact product, contact required.

FAQ

Are fruit spotting bug and banana spotting bug the same insect?

No. They are two native species in the same genus. Fruit spotting bug is Amblypelta nitida (usually darker green). Banana spotting bug is Amblypelta lutescens lutescens (paler yellow-green as an adult; nymphs with red stippling around black abdominal spots). Both sting avocado, macadamia and many tropical fruits. Banana spotting bug also attacks growing tips and stems, and it is not only a banana pest.

Is fruit spotting bug, Amblypelta or avocado on the Py-Bo label?

No. The current public Py-Bo label (APVMA 53738) names fruit and vegetable crops, cut flowers and ornamental plants as the horticultural situation, and names aphids, ants, cabbage moth and other caterpillars, earwigs, leafhoppers, thrips and whiteflies as the horticultural pests. Fruit spotting bug, banana spotting bug, Amblypelta, avocado and macadamia are not named. Do not treat this page as a pest registration. Confirm your crop, pest and mixing rate on the current label or a current APVMA permit. This page does not authorise off-label use.

How do I tell bug damage from Queensland fruit fly?

Bug damage is more common on the uppermost part of the fruit. Cut through the spot. Fruit fly leaves a curved white egg about 3 mm long, or white-cream maggots. A fruit spotting bug sting has no grub inside. Py-Bo will not kill maggots already in the fruit.

What rate of Py-Bo, and what is the withholding period?

On the labelled horticultural use: 1 mL per 1 L of water (100 mL per 100 L). The withholding period on labelled edible plants is 1 day. That rate and WHP are not a fruit spotting bug claim. Always confirm the crop, pest and WHP on the current APVMA-approved label. Do not invent rates.

Will one spray fix it for the season?

No. Py-Bo is a contact knockdown with no residual. Missed eggs can hatch about a week later. Nymphs drop. Adults hide and reinvade from scrub. If you are using a labelled fruit application, plan a follow-up about two weeks later when the next hatch or fresh feeding is visible, and keep walking hot spots.

What about bees?

Dangerous to bees. Do not spray any plants in flower while bees are foraging. Spray after dark when bees are in the hive. Residues keep bees off treated surfaces into the next morning until UV degrades the pyrethrins. Do not treat it as bee-safe in daylight on open flowers.

Quick reference

Common names: fruit spotting bug, fruit-spotting bug, banana spotting bug, banana-spotting bug, spotting bugs
Scientific names: Amblypelta nitida (fruit spotting bug); Amblypelta lutescens lutescens (banana spotting bug)
Hosts: avocado, macadamia, and many tropical and subtropical fruits (custard apple, lychee, mango, papaya, passionfruit, guava, pecan, cashew and others); native scrub hosts around the block
Symptoms: sunken black spots, dimples, shed small fruit, woody stones in avocado flesh, kernel damage in macadamia; no maggot inside the fruit
Eggs: singly on flowers, fruit or foliage; hatch 6–7 days; up to ~150 per female
Nymphs: 5 instars; cannot fly; often ant-like at first; distinctive black flattened second-last antennal segment
Generations: 3–4 a year (continuous in north Queensland); autumn adults overwinter
Spray timing: on live bugs and fresh damage; follow-up ~2 weeks if hatch or fresh feeding continues; after dark if bees are working
Py-Bo: 80 g/L pyrethrins + 320 g/L PBO; labelled horticultural rate 1 mL/L (100 mL/100 L); 1 day WHP on labelled edible plants; contact only. Not a registered fruit spotting bug, banana spotting bug, avocado or macadamia claim.

Always read and follow the current APVMA-approved label. The label is the law. Py-Bo is available through Pestech Australia’s Ag resellers or direct.