Well, I thought I had identified this bug at last. Now, I don’t think so. I’ve found them occasionally on the ground near Walter’s ground cherry plants. At the time, the ground cherry was covered in tiny, bright orange nymphs.
The nymphs don’t seem to eat the ground cherry, but just gather all over it.
Here is an image of the Leaf-footed bug, which I thought it was at first. But the leaf-footed bug has wide “leaves” on its hind legs. The bug in my photos does not.
Is it some kind of stink bug? I’m still baffled. Other than seeing all those orange babies, I really never see this type of bug in the garden. The nymphs of the assassin bug are also orange, but have long legs. So, is this another type of assassin bug?
I’m quite sure the above photo is an adult and the bottom (nymphs) is the same bug. As you can see the little ones are very bright orange. The legs are orange at the top, and black the rest of the way. The back end is rounded and has tiny lines around the edge. This matches the lines seen around the body of the adult. It resembles the stink bug.
I’m still unable to find any photos online that look like these orange bugs. I’m tired of looking. Hopefully one of my readers will know and be kind enough to leave a comment. I’d love to know if it is a beneficial.
More about the bugs found in my backyard garden.
Thank you for sharing!
Hydrangeas Blue 
Hi Pam,
I’m sure you know by now but these are the nymph stage of leaf footed bugs. They love tomatoes! They’re easy to control by washing off but you have to be diligent. The adults con6e and I flick them into jars o soapy water.
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Really? Nope, I did not know. Thanks!
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Your bugs came up in a search I was doing. I have the same kind on Habaneros. I can’t help with the identity because I too am looking. Two possible matches, leaf-footed nymph and tomato stink bugs? I know this post was over a year ago, just wondering if you found out what exactly you have here.
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oh, my email is dvance4@juno.com Thanks – regarding above comment
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No, I keep seeing them and don’t know what they are.
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your info on the limelight and pinky winky hydrangeas was incredibly helpful..much thanks.
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Thank you, so glad it helped.
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