Brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) is a highly destructive invasive pest of annual and perennial crops in the eastern United States and is an increasing threat to agriculture in the ...Pacific Northwest. Flight mills were used to examine flight capacity of H. halys in order to better understand its invasive characteristics. Specifically, we examined generational, sexual, and phenotypical effects on flight distance, frequency, velocity, and diel flight patterns of field-collected H. halys from two seasons. There was a clear dichotomy in total flight distance for insects that flew 5 km or less and those that flew more than 5 km in 24 h. The tendency for long distance flight of H. halys changed over the course of a given season, peaking at the end of the growing season. Summer generation H. halys flew farther and faster than overwintered adults, but not as frequently. Males and females had similar numbers of flights, but females went farther. Pre-flight weight of insects was correlated flight activity of adults in terms of speed, frequency, and distance. Overwintered H. halys lost a greater proportion of their pre-flight body weight during the assay than did the summer generation adults. Despite many limitations extrapolating flight mill data to the field, this study nonetheless provided evidence that H. halys has the capacity for long distance flight, particularly in the summer generation. The nutritional status and fat reserves of overwintered versus summer generation adults are discussed as potential explanations for the flight patterns found in this study.
Brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), has become a major pest for agricultural growers since it arrived in the USA and Europe. To better understand the ...energetic requirements of overwintering, dispersal, and reproduction of this invasive pest, we monitored the weight, egg load, lipid, glycogen, and sugar levels of adult H. halys populations in western Oregon, USA, over 2 years. In the first study, overwintering H. halys collected monthly from inside shelters exhibited a consistent decline in weight, glycogen, and sugar levels from October to June. In the second study, post‐overwintering adults that exited shelters in late spring had lower lipid, glycogen, and sugar levels than those that exited in early spring. Also, adults that just exited shelters had lower weight, glycogen, sugar, and sometimes lipids than adults that remained in diapause. Sugar levels declined the most during winter, followed by lipid and glycogen. These findings suggest that nutritional depletion may cause H. halys to emerge from diapause. In the third study, overwintered and first‐generation adults (G1) were simultaneously collected from holly in July and August. Overwintered adults often had lower nutrient levels than G1 adults, which may reflect overwintered adults having expended energy for dispersal and reproduction. In the fourth study, we evaluated whether the Nutrient Index weight (mg)/prothorax width (mm)3, a convenient index of physiological status, correlated with nutrient reserves. The Nutrient Index correlated with the adults’ lipid, glycogen, or sugar levels in 57% of cases, ranging from weakly negative to moderately positive correlations.
Nutrient levels decline over time among brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), adults in diapause and among adults that recently emerged from diapause. Emerging adults have lower weight, lipid, glycogen, and sugar levels than adults concurrently in diapause. The overwintered generation of adults often has lower nutrient levels than newly eclosed adults in mid‐summer.
Brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is an invasive polyphagous agricultural and urban nuisance pest of Asian origin that is becoming widespread in North ...America and Europe. Despite the economic importance of pentatomid pests worldwide, their feeding behavior is poorly understood. Electronically monitored insect feeding (EMIF) technology is a useful tool in studies of feeding behavior of Hemiptera. Here we examined H. halys feeding behavior using an EMIF system designed for high throughput studies in environmental chambers. Our objectives were to quantify feeding activity by monitoring proboscis contacts with green beans, including labial dabbing and stylet penetration of the beans, which we collectively define as 'probes'. We examined frequency and duration of 'probes' in field-collected H. halys over 48 hours and we determined how environmental conditions could affect diel and seasonal periodicity of 'probing' activity. We found differences in 'probing' activity between months when the assays were conducted. These differences in activity may have reflected different environmental conditions, and they also coincide with what is known about the phenology of H. halys. While a substantial number of 'probes' occurred during scotophase, including some of the longest mean 'probe' durations, activity was either lower or similar to 'probing' activity levels during photophase on average. We found that temperature had a significant impact on H. halys 'probing' behavior and may influence periodicity of activity. Our data suggest that the minimal temperature at which 'probing' of H. halys occurs is between 3.5 and 6.1 °C (95% CI), and that 'probing' does not occur at temperatures above 26.5 to 29.6 °C (95% CI). We estimated that the optimal temperature for 'probing' is between 16 and 17 °C.
The invasive spotted-wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura), is a key insect pest of berries globally, causing lost revenues and increased production costs associated with applications of ...insecticides.The insecticides utilized are commonly broad-spectrum pyrethroids, organophosphates, or carbamates in conventionally managed fields and spinosad in organically managed fields. Adoption of more selective insecticides has been limited due to their lower residual activity, and the requirement that some must be ingested to be effective. We investigated the use of feeding stimulants for D. suzukii as a method to improve longevity and efficacy in a range of insecticides. In laboratory bioassays, sugar increased the efficacy of all chemical classes tested; however, the inclusion of yeast only showed a benefit with malathion. Feeding stimulants had a limited effect in some cases under field conditions. Similarly, infestation in field plots and a semifield bioassay showed no significant decreases in infestation with the inclusion of feeding stimulants for the insecticides tested in these trials. We discuss the implications of these findings for managing D. suzukii in fruit crops to help ensure the harvest of marketable fruit.
The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), has become a well-known pest to growers and homeowners since its 1996 introduction to the United States. A classical biocontrol programme is ...under development using the egg parasitoid Trissolcus japonicus. Widespread implementation of biocontrol requires efficient mass rearing, which is constrained by the availability of fresh H. halys eggs. In this study, parasitism rate, developmental time, sex ratio and size were compared between wasps reared on fresh versus frozen, newly laid (<1 d old) versus variably aged (0-3 d old), and frozen egg masses stored ≤4 y. Frozen eggs yielded 56-65% fewer wasps, with parasitism rate decreasing 1-3% per month stored. Parasitism rate, sex ratio and developmental time were comparable between newly laid and variably aged eggs. Freezing eggs for any duration did not affect sex ratio or weight of emerged wasps, but delayed emergence 5-6 d. To simulate deployment of sentinel eggs in the field, we incubated frozen eggs at 20°C and 30°C for 1-9 d before exposing them to T. japonicus, then evaluated parasitism trends. Trissolcus japonicus parasitism rate decreased 5-8% per day incubated, unhatched wasps increased 9% per day incubated and sex ratio was not impacted. Variably aged, frozen and longer stored eggs can be used for T. japonicus rearing and experimentation without affecting emerged wasp sex ratio or size within one generation, but have lower parasitism and slower development. Frozen sentinel eggs are effective <3-5 d, especially in hot conditions.
Since the establishment of the brown marmorated stink bug,
Halyomorpha halys
(Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in North America and Europe, there has been a large, multi-group effort to characterize ...the composition and impact of the indigenous community of arthropod natural enemies attacking this invasive pest. In this review, we combine 98 indigenous natural enemy datasets spanning a variety of sampling methods, habitats, and geographic areas. To date, the vast majority of
H. halys
biological control research has focused on the egg stage, using sentinel egg masses to characterize indigenous parasitoid and predator communities and their contribution to
H. halys
egg mortality. Although egg parasitism and predation levels by indigenous natural enemies are low (typically <10% each) in most surveys, total egg mortality attributable to natural enemies can be higher (typically between 5 and 25%; up to 83%)—even though these values were likely underestimated in most cases because some mortality due to biological control was not recognized. In North America, where the most data are available, it appears that the relative prevalence of different indigenous parasitoid species varies among habitat types, particularly between crop and non-crop habitats. Predator species responsible for egg mortality are much less commonly identified, but appear to include a wide variety of generalist chewing and sucking predators. To date, studies of natural enemies attacking
H. halys
nymphs and adults are relatively rare. Based on our review, we identify a number of key research gaps and suggest several directions for future research.
Reliable monitoring of the invasive Halyomorpha halys abundance, phenology and geographic distribution is critical for its management. Halyomorpha halys adult and nymphal captures on clear sticky ...traps and in black pyramid traps were compared in 18 states across the Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Pacific Northwest and Western regions of the United States. Traps were baited with commercial lures containing the H. halys pheromone and synergist, and deployed at field sites bordering agricultural or urban locations with H. halys host plants. Nymphal and adult captures in pyramid traps were greater than those on sticky traps, but captures were positively correlated between the two trap types within each region and during the early-, mid- and late season across all sites. Sites were further classified as having a low, moderate or high relative H. halys density and again showed positive correlations between captures for the two trap types for nymphs and adults. Among regions, the greatest adult captures were recorded in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic on pyramid and sticky traps, respectively, with lowest captures recorded in the West. Nymphal captures, while lower than adult captures, were greatest in the Southeast and lowest in the West. Nymphal and adult captures were, generally, greatest during July–August and September–October, respectively. Trapping data were compared with available phenological models showing comparable population peaks at most locations. Results demonstrated that sticky traps offer a simpler alternative to pyramid traps, but both can be reliable tools to monitor H. halys in different geographical locations with varying population densities throughout the season.
The herbivorous brown marmorated stink bug,
, has spread globally, and one of its key parasitoids,
, has recently been detected in the pest's introduced range. For an exotic natural enemy to impact ...its targeted host in a novel environment, it must disperse, locate hosts, and potentially be redistributed to susceptible sites. Through intentionally releasing
across four Oregon eco-regions, we investigated an introduced parasitoid's dispersal capacity in urban sites and in two perennial crops, hazelnut and raspberry. In a second paired field and laboratory study, we investigated
survival in different plant materials. Within three days of release, adult
located host egg masses at 45% of sites and, one year later, were detected at 40% of release sites. Areas where released wasps survived winter were mostly urban or semi-natural. In commercial crop release experiments, we recovered the highest percentage of wasps in raspberry within 5 m of the release site but found no statistical difference in dispersal distance with some wasps dispersing up to 50 m. Adult parasitoids survived up to 16 weeks outdoors in the winter, with greater survival over time in bark compared to leaf litter. Wasp survival remained above 50% over the course of a simulated winter environment without precipitation. Our work affirms the continuation of
parasitism by
in novel environments and provides insight into the high population sizes necessary to survive winter and locate host egg masses the following season.
Brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is a severe economic pest of growing importance in the United States, Canada, and Europe. While feeding damage from H. ...halys has been characterized in tree fruit, vegetables, and agronomic crops, less is known about the impacts of stink bugs on small fruits such as blueberries. In this study, we examined H. halys feeding on two representative early and late ripening blueberry cultivars in Oregon and New Jersey. This research examined how different densities of H. halys confined on blueberry clusters for week-long periods affected fruit quality at harvest. After fruit were ripe, we stained and quantified the number of salivary sheaths on berries as an indication of feeding pressure. Feeding by H. halys damaged the fruits by causing increased levels of external discoloration, and internal damage in the form of tissue necrosis. Exposure of berries to H. halys was also associated with decreasing berry weights and lower soluble solids in fruits. However, the different cultivars did not respond consistently to feeding pressure from H. halys. Weekly variability in feeding pressure of two of the cultivars as quantified by the number of stylet sheaths per berry was largely accounted for by environmental variables. We conclude that H. halys does have potential to severely damage blueberries and may become an important economic pest. Characterization of damage is important because correct identification of insect damage is key for successful management.