Native to China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) was first detected in the United States in the mid-1990s. Since establishing in the United States, this invasive species has caused significant economic losses in agriculture and created major nuisance problems for home and business owners, especially in the mid-Atlantic region. Basic and applied questions on H. halys have been addressed in its native range in Asia since the mid-1900s and the research outcomes have been published in at least 216 articles from China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. In Asia, H. halys is described as an occasional or outbreak pest of a number of crops such as apple, pear, persimmon, and soybeans. This species is considered a nuisance pest as well, particularly in Japan. This review summarizes 100 articles primarily translated from Chinese, Japanese, and Korean to English. The content of this review focuses on the biology, ecology, and management of H. halys in Asia, with specific emphasis on nomenclature, life history, host range, damage, economic importance, sampling and monitoring tools, and management strategies. This information from the native range of H. halys provides greater context and understanding of its biology, ecology, and management in North America.

No abstract

To improve our understanding of adult Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) overwintering biology and to better inform models of its population dynamics, its temporal pattern of spring emergence was investigated using experimental overwintering shelters in screened cages within protective structures. In 2012, plastic shelters containing 100 adults were deployed in unheated, unlighted buildings, and adjacent woodlots in Virginia, USA. In 2013 and 2014, wooden shelters containing 300 paint‐marked adults were deployed in pairs in six woodlots across Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland, USA; one in a closed cage and one in a cage with the top removed, enabling emerged adults to be counted or to disperse, respectively. In 2013 and 2014, pheromone‐baited and non‐baited pyramid traps encircled the shelters at each site. Regular counts of adults that emerged into the closed cage and of marked and ‘wild’ (unmarked) adults captured in traps were conducted from February or March through early July. In 2012, emergence patterns from shelters in buildings and woodlots were very similar and matched those recorded from woodlots in 2013 and 2014. In all years, a small peak of emergence occurred in about mid‐April, a larger and more prolonged peak was observed between mid‐May and early June, and emergence ended by early July. Of the 449 H. halys adults captured in traps between 2013 and 2014, only three were marked individuals from shelters in the open cage, suggesting that adults emerging from overwintering sites may require a dispersal flight before responding to pheromone‐baited traps. In 2013 and 2014, respectively, 98 and 93% of captures were in pheromone‐baited traps, but there was no correlation between the weekly number of adults that emerged from shelters in the closed cages and captures in traps.

Brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), injury to late-season apple cultivars was measured at harvest in 2011 and 2012 in commercial orchards in four mid-Atlantic states. In each orchard block, a border zone (adjacent to woods), an interior zone (near orchard center), and an intermediate zone (between border and interior zones) comprised 1-3 tree rows per zone, depending on block size. Just before commercial harvest, 10 fruit were sampled from the upper, middle, and lower third of the canopy from five trees in each zone. After 3-5 wk in cold storage, fruit were examined for external and internal injury, and severity of internal injury (number of injury sites per fruit) from H. halys. A zero-inflated negative binomial model accounted for significant variation among the orchards and showed that apples from the upper canopy of border zone trees had the highest probability of experiencing external and internal injury. A minor interaction was detected among the orchards and zones for injury prevalence and severity, but there was no evidence of an orchard showing less expected injury in the border zone compared with other zones. Adjusting for orchard-to-orchard variation, differences in injury distributions among the zones and canopies were primarily due to injury prevalence rather than expected injury severity. The implications of these results to scouting and managing H. halys in eastern apple orchards are discussed.

No abstract

Summary1. Over the past decade, several foodborne disease outbreaks provoked widespread reforms to the fresh produce industry. Subsequent concerns about wildlife vectors and contaminated manures created pressure on growers to discontinue use of manure-based composts and remove nearby semi-natural vegetation. Despite widespread adoption, impacts of these practices on ecosystem services such as pest control have not been assessed. 2. We used a landscape-scale field experiment to quantify associations between compost applications, semi-natural vegetation, pest control services and lettuce yields on organic farms throughout California's Central Coast, a region experiencing food safety reforms. 3. We found that farms with surrounding semi-natural vegetation supported a diverse arthropod assemblage, whereas a herbivore-dominated assemblage occupied farms in simplified landscapes. Moreover, predatory arthropods consumed more herbivores at sites with more surrounding non-crop vegetation and reduced aphid pest infestations in lettuce. 4. Compost improved lettuce yields by increasing soil nutrients and organic matter, but affected neither pest control nor Escherichia coli prevalence. 5. Synthesis and applications. Food safety concerns are prompting practices that simplify farms and landscapes. Our results demonstrate that two practices -elimination of manurebased composts and removal of non-crop vegetation -are likely having negative impacts on arthropod biodiversity, pest control and soil quality. Critically, our findings and previous research suggest that compost can be applied safely and that habitat removal is likely ineffective at mitigating food safety risk. There is thus scope for co-managing fresh produce fields for food safety, ecosystem services, and biodiversity through applying appropriately treated composts and stopping habitat removal.

Lepidopteran pests such as fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith), and black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon Hufnagel (both Noctuidae), are serious problems of turfgrass (Poaceae) in the USA. Several predators in turfgrass systems attack lepidopteran larvae; however, their predaceous activity is rarely recorded, as they leave hardly any evidence. Predaceous activity can be studied using clay models, an approach still rarely employed in turfgrass. Thus, assays were conducted to determine the types of impressions that common turfgrass arthropods leave on clay models simulating lepidopteran larvae. Nine impression types were characterized after exposing 16 arthropod taxa in enclosed arenas in the laboratory and one taxon in the field to two sizes of clay models, including scratches, paired marks, pricks, deep distortions, disturbed surfaces, detached segments, granulated surfaces, dents, and elongated scratches. Most arthropods produced scratches and paired marks, whereas granulated surfaces and elongated scratches were produced by only a few of the selected arthropods. To ensure that the impressions were correctly identified, non-expert volunteers reviewed the impressions, and they were accurately identified in >85% of the responses. Video recordings of arthropod interactions were captured to determine the behavior of the arthropods during their first interaction with the clay models. Most arthropods first interacted with the terminal rather than the middle regions of the models. There were no differences between their interactions with the large or small models, and they used their mouthparts as often as their legs. Knowledge of the impression types caused by common arthropods will improve the utilization of the clay model technique for field studies in turfgrass. This could contribute to improved management of natural enemies as part of an integrated pest management approach.

No abstract