Influence of damage by southern green stink bug <i>Nezara viridula</i> (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), on sesame seed yield and oil quality

Abstract

The influence of damage by the southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula (Linnaeus) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), on the yield and oil quality of sesame seeds and the seasonal prevalence of the bug were investigated in field experiments. When ten bugs per plant were released individually onto sesame plants during the ripening period, many immature seeds were observed at harvest, and the seed weight of infested plants was lower than that of the control. The acid value of the oil in sesame seeds damaged by bugs in the mid-ripening period tended to be higher than that of plants infested in the late ripening period. In sesame fields, second-generation nymphs appeared in the early ripening period, and the bugs seemed to reproduce and increase rapidly in the late ripening period.