Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

The stink bug used to be an annoyance...something you shooed out of the house without it releasing its foul odor. But then along came the brown marmorated stink bug and it started eating everything in site. Tracy Leskey, a Research Entomologist with USDA-ARS Kearneysville talks about how they are dealing with the pest in the eastern U.S.

LESKEY: This is an invasive species that is native to China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. It is classified as an invasive species because of the potential economic and environmental threat. This insect is a typical pentatomid; a typical stink bug. The eggs are typically laid on the undersides of leaves

Leskey talks about why the stink bug is such a problem.

LESKEY: In our region of the mid-Atlantic where I’m housed we have about 2 complete generations per year. It takes about 50 days from egg to adult. And one of the issues with this insect is that this insect has an incredibly broad host range. It has been recorded to feed on over 300 different host plants including many important specialty crops such as tree fruit.

And she gives us a bit of history on the brown marmorated stink bug.

LESKEY: It was first collected in the Allentown region of Pennsylvania in the late 1990’s, unfortunately it wasn’t officially identified at that time. The first official record came in 2001 when specimen’s were collected at a homeowners site. This is the first official record in the U.S. Subsequently it was officially found in New Jersey the following year. We found it in Maryland in 2003 and West Virginia in 2004.

More on Monday with Tracy Leskey on the brown marmorated stink bug.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.