Seasonal Abundance and Population Structure of Brown Stink Bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in Farmscapes Containing Corn, Cotton, Peanut, and Soybean

Abstract

Stink bugs are economically important pests of food and fiber production throughout the southeastern United States. In cotton, stink bugs feed on developing bolls thereby decreasing yield and fiber quality. The brown stink bug, Euschistus servus (Say) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is a common species that is found throughout the southeast and feeds on a variety of wild and agronomic hosts. In this study, the population dynamics and reproductive biology of E. servus were assessed in 1.62–2.83-ha farmscapes planted with corn (Zea mays L.), cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]. Farmscapes were sampled weekly using whole plant sampling for corn and sweep net sampling in cotton, peanut, and soybean. In 2010, but not 2009, nymphs were classified by instar, and adults were dissected to rate gonads as nonrepro-ductive, intermediate, or reproductive. Regardless of year, stink bugs observed in corn during the spring and early summer and were a mixture of all three reproductive stages. The number of E. servus nymphs and adults was low in all crops during the summer (July, August, and early September). In late September, the number of fifth instars rose sharply followed by an increase in the number of nonreproductive adults, which implies that these adults resulted from reproduction as opposed to immigration. Incidence of late instars and nonreproductive adults was extremely low for corn, cotton, and peanut, and these host plants did not seem to be highly suitable reproductive hosts. Results from this study are useful for pest management programs that focus on reducing stink bug populations on a landscape scale.

Crop-specific mortality of southern green stink bug eggs in Bt- and non-Bt cotton, soybean and peanut

“…Olson, Ruberson, Zeilinger, and Andow (2011) found that when cotton, soybean and peanut were grown in close proximity, colonising adults of Nezara viridula L. and Euchistus servus (Say) strongly preferred soybean over cotton and peanut, and N. viridula preferred cotton over peanut. Herbert and Toews (2011) obtained similar results. How these preferences interact with reproductive and mortality variables to yield population growth is poorly understood.…”

“…As we did not determine potential alternative prey in the crops, it remains unclear whether resource availability or some other aspect of cotton deters ant foraging on cotton in some cases and not others. Cotton does not appear to be a good reproductive host for stink bugs; immature stages are rarely found in this crop relative to adults (Herbert and Toews 2011;Olson et al 2011). This suggests that stink bug adults are mainly responsible for the economic damage to cotton, and the paucity of immature stages may limit biological control of stink bug eggs in this crop.…”

Spatial Analysis of the Cereal Leaf Beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in Wheat

“…servus is bivoltine in Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, and Virginia (Woodside 1946, Rolston and Kendrick 1961, Munyaneza and McPherson 1994, Herbert and Toews 2011. Though well timed insecticide applications, applied for pest control in commercial fields, hindered our ability to detect clear generation peaks, our study supports bivoltinism in E. servus.…”

“…As no wheat was available for sampling in Tift County, sampling started in late June in 2009 and 2010, and sampling was delayed until midAugust in 2011 as a result of severe drought that delayed planting. Sampling in Tift County likely missed the early-season peak, which was recorded in other studies from the same area in early May (Herbert and Toews 2011).…”

Feeding Preference and Movement of <I>Nezara viridula</I> and <I>Euschistus servus</I> (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) on Individual Cotton Plants

“…The southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula (L.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is considered one of the most important agricultural pests in the world (Todd 1989). The brown stink bug, Euschistus servus (Say) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is the most widespread member of the Pentatomidae in North America (Munyaneza and McPherson 1994), and has received a great deal of recent attention (Siebert et al 2005, Tillman 2010, Herbert and Toews 2011. Both species are polyphagous and cause economic damage to a wide-range of agricultural crops such as corn, cotton, peanut, soybean, and wheat , Reay-Jones 2010, Olson et al 2011, Herbert and Toews 2011.…”