Wheat bugs attack a variety of crops, not just wheat.
There are over a dozen species and variations of wheat bug, each of which attack and harms wheat crops in distinctive and variably destructive ways. These bugs vary not only in their infestation's particular attack and damage features but also in their location, season and treatment. Four of the most common type of wheat bug are: the Hessian Fly, the Cereal Leaf Beetle, Greenbugs, and Armyworms.
Hessian Fly
The Hessian fly is one of wheat's most threatening pests. Not only feeding on wheat, as it also can threaten other grasses like rye and barley, the Hessian fly lives for just two days. It mates during those two days. The ensuing larvae appear like small slugs on a plant, whereas the adult Hessian fly resembles a mosquito. It is the larvae that inflict the damage to the wheat plants, as the larvae suck liquid from the plant, weakening the plant especially at its joints. These Hessian fly larvae can stunt the growth of a plant and cause these plants to produce fewer crops.
Cereal Leaf Beetle
You can recognize adult cereal leaf beetles by the parallel lines of dots on their wing covers. They harm plants by ingesting the wheat plant in long thin lines as they move along it. Both larvae and adult cereal leaf beetles destroy plants this way -- some infestations can affect up to 25 percent of the crop's yield. Larvae are identifiable not only by their smaller stature compared to the adults, but also by the mound of a shiny, round, dark mass they develop on their backs. This mass is actually fecal matter that they accumulate over time.
Greenbugs (aphids)
There are many different kinds of aphids that can infect and harm a wheat crop. One of the most prominent species of such aphids is Greenbugs. The damage of their feeding habits is distinctive even among other harmful aphids in that it injects a toxin that causes infected leaves to turn purple and roll up onto themselves. Their feeding habits are therefore extremely harmful. Greenbugs are named after their appearance, however middle-aged to adult Greenbugs develop a darker stripe along their back.
Armyworms
Armyworm infestations can devastate large crop yields. They are related to Stalk Borers and Cutworms, and their larvae feed on the plant's leaves. The larvae defoliate the plant by eating from the edges of the leaf to its center. Additionally, some armyworms crawl from the base of the plant at soil level, where they may feed on the plant's roots, high up the plant and chew off the plant's head.
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