More Help Needed To Track Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs, Georgia Researchers Say

The brown marmorated stink bug is a problem in apples, tomatoes and other crops in the north. It has recently moved into Georgia. Photo credit: Brian Little, University of Georgia

The brown marmorated stink bug is a problem in apples, tomatoes and other crops in the north. It has recently moved into Georgia.
Photo credit: Brian Little, University of Georgia

Entomologists at the University of Georgia are asking others in the state to be on the lookout for the brown marmorated stink bug, which can hang out in homes and also has the ability to damage various crops in the state.

Paul Guillebeau, an entomologist with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, decided to find out how many Georgians are hosting the pest. He thought of the project after lying in bed at night and counting the number of stink bugs crawling on his ceiling.

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“On any given day, there are at least five or six on the ceiling and at least 20 throughout the rest of the house,” he said in press release. “You could spray them, but then you’d have dead stink bugs to deal with. It really becomes tedious.”

To participate in Gullibeau’s tracking survey, go to www.surveymonkey.com/s/FCLPJLX. To date, more than 8,000 Georgians have responded. The three-question survey will remain open until responses begin to dwindle, and the state has been represented.

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University of Georgia research professional Brian Little began tracking the brown marmorated stink bug’s movement in January as part of a collaborative project with scientist Jim Walgenbach at North Carolina State University. Little set up stink bug stations at Gullibeau’s house, where he monitors the temperature at which the bugs come out of their diapause, or physiological state of dormancy.

“They are more of an issue in apples, tomatoes, and other fruit in the North and they have just recently moved into Georgia. We do not want them to become an issue in Georgia cotton production or get into our blueberries,” Little said.

He collects live and dead brown marmorated stink bugs and measures the pronotum, which is the plate-like structure that covers all or part of the insect’s thorax, the width of each insect and the weight of the live insects. Little will continue monitoring the bug stations through June.

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Once the brown marmorated stink bugs return to the outdoors, University of Georgia entomologist Kris Braman hopes home gardeners will properly identify the pests before killing them.

“The brown marmorated stink bug damages a host of plants from ornamentals to trees to food crops,” she said. “But there are many other look-alike stink bugs and some of these are predators that feed on harmful garden pests.”

Brown marmorated stink bugs have striped antennae, smooth shoulders and small mouthparts. Predator, or beneficial, stink bugs have solid antennae, spines or indentations to their shoulders and a “much stouter” mouth.

“You may need a hand lens to get a close look, but it will be worth it because they eat harmful garden insects like the Mexican bean beetle,” Braman said.

“I think they are everywhere across the state, but we will just have to wait and see,” Gullibeau said. “I just hope one of my colleagues develops a trap to catch them before they come in my house next year.”

Source: University of Georgia press release 

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