Samurai Wasps Pt 2
I'm Bob Larson. A Goliath called the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug has its own "David" to worry about in the Samurai Wasp.Researchers at Oregon State University have been studying the tiny predator's effectiveness for the past couple of years ...
DAVID LOWENSTEIN-4 = 27 ... "From the work that we've done in the lab, Samurai Wasps parasitizes pretty close to 100% of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug eggs. We present it with stink bug eggs in a whole variety of experiments and it does a really good job of reproducing inside of them. In the field as well, those parasitism rates are about 60 to 80% in China. And we do find evidence of the Samurai Wasps parasitizing BMSB eggs, at least in metropolitan Portland."
OSU Entomologist David Lowenstein says the next step is field testing in orchards ...
DAVID LOWENSTEIN-5A = 25 ... "So, it's a very tiny wasp. I mean, it's the size of period in a sentence. So, if we release this in orchards, we don't know if it's going to be effective throughout the entire orchard, will it disburse anywhere that there's BMSB, or will it be most effective near orchard edges or other annual crop edges? So, there's a lot of information that researchers, including myself, we're working on starting now to understand the Samurai Wasps biology in the field."
Lowenstein says the Samurai Wasp could be a key player in managing Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs. He encourages anyone who notices stink bug eggs, with tiny little wasps hanging around, to contact the OSU Extension office and let them know when and where you see them.