Adults are about 6 mm long, oval, and rather flattened. They are yellowish to greenish brown, and have dark markings on their wings. The immature forms are pale green and look similar to an aphid. They can be distinguished from aphids by their more rapid movements. Straw brown seeds that are large and hollow are a good indication of lygus bug damage.
Adults become active in early spring and deposit their curved eggs into stems, and leaf midribs.
Egg hatch takes place about 1 week later depending on temperature, and the green-yellow nymphs progress through 5 instars, reaching the adult stage in approximately 30 days. An action threshold of 1 nymph per cluster is recommended. Other scouting methods have been implemented in California. Threshold levels have been developed for lygus bugs depending on monitoring method used. Apply sprays when 1 lygus nymph is found in 20 plants.