Use of Black Light Traps to Monitor the Abundance, Spread, and Flight Behavior of <I>Halyomorpha halys</I> (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

Abstract

Monitoring the distribution and abundance of an invasive species is challenging, especially during the initial years of spread when population densities are low and basic biology and monitoring methods are being investigated. Brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys (Stål)) is an invasive agricultural and urban pest that was first detected in the United States in the late 1990s. At the time of its detection, no method was available to effectively track H. halys populations, which are highly mobile and polyphagous. One possible solution was the utilization of black light traps, which are nonspecific traps attractive to night flying insects. To determine if black light traps are a reliable monitoring tool for H. halys, a state-wide network of 40-75 traps located on New Jersey farms were monitored from 2004 to 2011 for H. halys. This proved to be a highly effective method of monitoring H. halys populations and their spread at the landscape level. The total number of brown marmorated stink bug caught in New Jersey increased exponentially during this period at a rate of 75% per year. Logistic regression estimates that 2.84 new farms are invaded each year by H. halys. The results indicate that black light traps are attractive to early season populations as well as at low population densities. Weekly trap catch data are being used to generate state-wide population distribution maps made available to farmers in weekly newsletters and online. While no economic threshold currently exists for brown marmorated stink bug, the maps provide farmers with a tool to forecast pest pressure and plan management.

Coupling Traditional Monitoring and Citizen Science to Disentangle the Invasion of Halyomorpha halys

“…Its population growth can also be due to successful establishment and spread in Trentino by benefiting from host availability and being released from natural enemy pressure, leading to increased population density and fitness [53]. Similar observations in New Jersey, USA, concluded that BMSB underwent a population increase of 75% each year, during the period spanning from 2004 to 2011 [54]. An alternative mechanism in invasion ecology that could be linked to BMSB success is the Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability (EICA).…”

Evaluating Light Attraction to Increase Trap Efficiency for Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

“…In agricultural settings, UV light traps are commonly used to monitor population levels of pest species (Nielsen et al 2013). Even when pheromones or other species-specific methods for trapping an insect have been developed, it is helpful to identify the effect of light as an additional incorporation into trapping devices or protocols (Duehl et al 2011;Leskey et al 2015b).…”

“…Population monitoring and both preemptive and responsive pesticide application are currently the primary strategies employed for control of this pest (Leskey et al 2012a(Leskey et al , 2012b. Furthermore, UV light traps have been successfully used to monitor for H. halys on both local and regional scales (Nielsen et al 2011;Nielsen et al 2013;Wallner et al 2014).…”

The interaction between diet breadth, geography and gene flow in herbivorous insects

“…The available evidence suggests that movement of N. viridula into cotton from other host plants can occur over small spatial scales (Olson et al 2012;Tillman 2014;Tillman et al 2014;Tillman et al 2009), something that is found in similar pentatomid pests that include Halyomorpha halys (Nielsen et al 2013;Venugopal et al 2014;Wallner et al 2014), Chinavia hilaris (Tillman et al 2015), as well as Euschistus conspersus and Thyanta pallidovirens (Pease & Zalom 2010). Long distance and interannual movement of pentatomids, including N. viridula, has been given less attention.…”

“…halys also changes at different times of the year and at different temperatures (Lee 2015), and monitoring of its spread in the USA (Nielsen et al 2013;Wallner et al 2014) suggests that, while longdistance dispersal in pentatomids does occur, it may happen gradually.…”