Indigenous arthropod natural enemies of the invasive brown marmorated stink bug in North America and Europe

Abstract

Since the establishment of the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in North America and Europe, there has been a large, multi-group effort to characterize the composition and impact of the indigenous community of arthropod natural enemies attacking this invasive pest. In this review, we combine 98 indigenous natural enemy datasets spanning a variety of sampling methods, habitats, and geographic areas. To date, the vast majority of H. halys biological control research has focused on the egg stage, using sentinel egg masses to characterize indigenous parasitoid and predator communities and their contribution to H. halys egg mortality. Although egg parasitism and predation levels by indigenous natural enemies are low (typically <10% each) in most surveys, total egg mortality attributable to natural enemies can be higher (typically between 5 and 25%; up to 83%)—even though these values were likely underestimated in most cases because some mortality due to biological control was not recognized. In North America, where the most data are available, it appears that the relative prevalence of different indigenous parasitoid species varies among habitat types, particularly between crop and non-crop habitats. Predator species responsible for egg mortality are much less commonly identified, but appear to include a wide variety of generalist chewing and sucking predators. To date, studies of natural enemies attacking H. halys nymphs and adults are relatively rare. Based on our review, we identify a number of key research gaps and suggest several directions for future research

Surveying native egg parasitoids and predators of the invasive Halyomorpha halys in Northern Italy

“…Although fresh food was provided to the caged adults twice a week, cannibalism might have occurred to respond to physiological necessity of alternative, protein‐rich food sources (Thomas & Manica, ). Apart from cannibalism, eggs could have been eaten by predators with piercing–sucking mouthparts, small enough to penetrate the mesh barrier, such as Miridae and Anthocoridae, that have been reported as predators of H. halys eggs in previous studies (Abram et al, ; Morrison et al, ).…”

“…The natural enemies complex and their impact on H. halys in its native range (Yang, Yao, Qiu, & Li, ; Zhang et al, ) and invaded areas (reviewed in Abram et al, ) was investigated in several earlier studies to evaluate the potential for biological control. In newly invaded areas, the natural enemy community of the alien invasive species is usually absent, but native natural enemies may accept it as food source (predators) or host for reproduction (parasitoids).…”

A modified DNA barcode approach to define trophic interactions between native and exotic pentatomids and their parasitoids

“…To compensate for the difficulty in finding wild pentatomid eggs, sentinel egg masses have been deployed in high numbers in an attempt to characterize parasitoid diversity in pentatomids; however, parasitism is underestimated in sentinel egg masses (Jones et al., ). This is probably because semiochemical cues important for host searching and host acceptance are absent on sentinel egg masses (Abram, Hoelmer et al., ). Collectively, these complications have precluded a thorough investigation of trophic links in the Pentatomidae–Scelionidae system.…”

Comparative Trapping Efficiency to Characterize Bee Abundance, Diversity, and Community Composition in Apple Orchards

“…Brown marmorated stink bug is a highly mobile polyphagous pest that can fly long distances (Bakken et al 2015). Different stages of brown marmorated stink bug are attacked by several species of native arthropod natural enemies (Abram et al 2017;Dieckhoff et al 2017). As an agricultural pest, it is a good candidate for biological regulation by predators and parasitoids, because it spends the majority of the year in non-managed, wooded habitats rather than in agricultural crops where pesticides often limit biological control.…”