2. Biology & Life Cycle– Adult are about 1.3 to 1.5 cm in length and are solid
green.
– Eggs are laid in a cluster of 20 or more on the
undersides of leaves. that appear as rows of small
barrels on and around suitable food sources.
– Immature stages vary in color from black for very small
nymphs to green for larger nymphs.
– However, the immature stages ( 5 instar )have a
distinctive pattern of whitish spots on the abdominal
segments.
– Nymphal stages are often found together in high
numbers.
– Development from egg to adult requires about 35 days,
but varies with temperature.
– Up to five generations per year may occur with greater
numbers appearing in the fall before adults overwinter.
5. Host range:
– Stink bugs polyphagous and attack plants
in many plant families. Vegetables
commonly attacked include bean,
cucumber, pea, pepper, squash and
tomato. The southern green stink bug
shows a preference for legumes and
crucifers.
6. Damage:
– Both adults and nymphs of stink bugs have piercing-
sucking mouthparts and feed on leaf, stem and blossom
tissue; however, fruit feeding causes the most damage.
– In fruit, such as tomatoes, damage is of two types.
When the young green fruit is injured, the cells at the
site of feeding are killed by the toxic saliva injected by
the bugs into the plant. This area of the fruit stops
expanding, while the cells around the dead cells
continue to expand by increasing their water content.
The result is deformed fruit that appears to have
dimples. This type of damage has been called "cat
facing.“
– When ripened or nearly ripened fruit is injured, the
injection of toxic saliva merely kills a cluster of cells that
later forms an off-color hard mass in the fruit, reducing
fruit quality and producing a bad flavor to the fruit.
– Some plant diseases are spread by stink bug feeding.
7.
8. Scouting:
– Plants are not sampled prior to flowering.
Post-bloom, whole plants are inspected for
nymphs and adults.
– Gently shaking plants can cause adults to fly,
making them easier to detect.
– After fruit set, 10 fruit per six plants are
inspected for damage.
Action Thresholds:
– 1 nymph or adult per plant
9. Cultural Control
Field Manipulations:
– Weeds and senescent crops can be reservoirs of
migrating adults.
– Tomato and pepper crops should not be planted
near or adjacent to fields with legume cover
crops or fields with weeds.
– Legume or crucifers may be used as trap crops, if
the subsequent bug populations are managed.
10. Chemical Control
Insecticides should be applied when
the action threshold is reached.
Insecticides used most often to control
bugs include the pyrethroid
insecticides and endosulfan .
No insecticide resistance in stink bugs
has been reported
11. Natural Enemies
Parasitic wasps attack eggs and
parasitic flies attack nymphs and
adults.
Generalist predators include ants, big-
eyed bugs (Geocoris spp.), damsel
bugs (Nabis spp.) and spiders.
Timed insecticide applications can
enhance biological control
