orange nymphs – Hydrangeas Blue

I noticed this cluster of something on a pepper leaf outside my window. At first glance, I thought it looked like a bunch of little snails. I do have bad eyes. Once I got a photo and zoomed in, I could see it was many little orange bugs.

The cluster of little guys is located on a Cayenne pepper leaf. They are not ladybugs, but that is all I knew.

When searching for orange bugs with black spots, I get Assassin bugs and Milkweed bugs. Neither one looks like this, but I know these are young. Assassin bug nymphs are not shaped like this, and if they are Milkweed bugs, why are they on the pepper plant? I do have milkweed plants in the yard.

A reader once told me that if they are in clusters, they are bad. Can anyone help identify these little guys?

Hey, thanks so much. Now I know that these are stinkbugs. I removed them from the peppers and we are all good now!

Others

I’ve had little orange bugs before. They are the nymph stage of the Leaf-footed bug. These were all over the wild, ground cherries.

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.

unidentified beetle bug — Leaf-footed plant bug

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.

orange nymphs of what bug? — Nymphs on Walter’s ground cherry plant.

bright orange nymphs on Walter's ground cherry plant. — Nymphs on Walter’s ground cherry plant.

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.