Pest control: Bronze orange bugs

Bronze orange bugs are a common citrus pest that appear in late winter/early spring as small, pale-green bugs but as the season progresses they moult and change to orange as they get larger.

By summer they will have matured into a dark-bronze bug, approximately 2–3cm long. Bronze orange bugs suck sap from the tips of new shoots and the stems of flowers and young fruit. This causes wilting of the new shoots and flowers along with fruit drop. If disturbed they squirt a foul-smelling, caustic substance, which explains their other common name – stink bugs!

Control options

Physical methods: Use an old vacuum cleaner to suck them off the tree or physically knock them into a bucket of soapy water. Wear safety glasses and a long-sleeved shirt as their stinky spray can burn skin and sting eyes.

Organic sprays: A combination botanical oil plus pyrethrum formulation is the only organically approved registration for home gardeners. This will also kill beneficial insects so use sparingly.

Beneficials

There are tiny wasps (Anastatus spp.) that will parasitise the eggs, while assassin bugs (pictured below) are predators that feed on the adult bugs.

There are many more sap sucker pests to look out for in your summer garden, including aphids, whitefly and mites. Learn about them in Steve’s feature in our Summer 2026 issue, available here.