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The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), Halyomorpha halys, originally from East Asia, is an invasive pest that is present throughout much of the United States. It is attracted to the outside of houses on warm fall days in search of overwintering sites and can enter houses in large numbers. The brown marmorated stink bug is also a serious economic threat to fruit crops, garden vegetables, and many ornamentals. In a changing climate, agricultural losses from insect pests like BMSB are expected to increase.

USDA ARS scientists are fighting back by developing traps, sequencing the bug’s genome, and testing parasitic wasps as biocontrols. Midwest Climate Hub research fellow, Dr. Erica Kistner-Thomas is contributing to that fight through modeling the potential distribution and abundance of BMSB under future climate scenarios using a bioclimatic niche model. For more on Erica’s work, see: Climate Change Impacts on the Potential Distribution and Abundance of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) With Special Reference to North America and Europe.

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Biosecurity officials are promising to take tough action against cargo vessels believed to be infested with brown marmorated stink bug during the upcoming risk season. The risk season runs from September to April, when stink bugs from the northern hemisphere are most likely to crawl into cargo heading to New Zealand. Last season, biosecurity officers intercepted more than 2,500 individual stink bugs at the border, mainly on vessels and cargo.

A tiny wasp may be the solution for managing an agricultural pest causing major economic damage to fruit, vegetable, and field crops in North America and Europe. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are currently studying Trissolcus japonicus, commonly known as the samurai wasp, to see if this parasitoid wasp is the right biological control agent for reducing brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) (BMSB) populations outside of Asia. Biological control is the process of reducing or mitigating pests or pathogens by using the pest’s or pathogen’s natural enemies. The samurai wasp is a known natural enemy for the BMSB in Asia, and researchers are understanding how it behaves in non-native environments.