Sweetpotato bugs

Common name: Sweetpotato bug; Large spine-footed bug

Scientific name: Physomerus grossipes Fabricius

Common name: Giant sweetpotato bug

Scientific name: Spartocera batatas (Fabricius)

Nymphs of sweetpotato bug suck on stem (E. Vasquez).

Giant sweetpotato bugs (J. Lotz, FDACS).

Diagnostic summary

What they do to plants
- nymphs and adults pierce the stems and petioles of sweetpotato and suck the plant sap causing stunting and wilting.

Sweetpotato bug is found in Southeast Asia. Giant sweetpotato bug is found in Africa, Caribbean and North America.