Today I found the first kudzu bug of the season. Does anyone else have these things? Haven't seen any in two or three years. If you live in Georgia (where they first appeared in 2009), the Carolinas or Alabama, you may be susceptible. They are a tad smaller than 1/4" and often are a major pest in soybean fields as well as kudzu patches. Plants are harmed as these things suck the juices out of them.
Kudzu bugs first hit my garden in 2010 when they encrusted the stems of the fig bush, the pole beans and a dwarf wisteria.
I tried as best as I could to scrape them into a cup of soapy water but they hung around for about a week. Back then I had never seen them before and had to have the extension guy ID it. Since then I've seen the odd bug now and then but never in the numbers that were here in '10. Perhaps growers have been able to keep the population in check. I sure checked the wisteria and fig this morning and they're bug free, thank goodness.
The link posted below lists on the Grower tab a map of where they have been spotted as well as a list of what chemicals you can use against them, the least harmful being Sevin. Next time (and I hope there won't be one) I'll make up a bigger soap water cup!
https://www.kudzubug.org/grower/