New record of Trissolcus solocis (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) parasitising Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in the United States of America

A parasitoid wasp, Trissolcus solocis Johnson, was recorded parasitising eggs of the invasive stink bug Halyomorpha halys (Stål), in the United States. This is the first record of this species parasitising eggs of H. halys. First record of Trissolcus solocis parasitising Halyomorpha halys eggs in the United States and first record of T. solocis in Alabama

Refining Pheromone Lures for the Invasive Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Through Collaborative Trials in the United States and Europe

Brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys, is native to Asia and has invaded North America and Europe inflicting serious agricultural damage to specialty and row crops. Tools to monitor the spread of H. halys include traps baited with the two-component aggregation pheromone (PHER), (3S,6S,7R,10S)-10,11-epoxy-1-bisabolen-3-ol and (3R,6S,7R,10S)-10,11-epoxy-1-bisabolen-3-ol, and pheromone synergist, methyl (2E,4E,6Z)-decatrienoate (MDT). Here, an international team of researchers conducted trials aimed at evaluating prototype commercial lures for H. halys to establish relative attractiveness of: 1) low and high loading rates of PHER and MDT for monitoring tools and attract and kill tactics; 2) polyethylene lure delivery substrates; and 3) the inclusion of ethyl (2E,4E,6Z)-decatrieonate (EDT), a compound that enhances captures when combined with PHER in lures. In general, PHER loading rate had a greater impact on overall trap captures compared with loading of MDT, but reductions in PHER loading and accompanying lower trap captures could be offset by increasing loading of MDT. As MDT is less expensive to produce, these findings enable reduced production costs. Traps baited with lures containing PHER and EDT resulted in numerically increased captures when EDT was loaded at a high rate, but captures were not significantly greater than those traps baited with lures containing standard PHER and MDT. Experimental polyethylene vial dispensers did not outperform standard lure dispensers; trap captures were significantly lower in most cases. Ultimately, these results will enable refinement of commercially available lures for H. halys to balance attraction and sensitivity with production cost

Wild insect diversity increases inter-annual stability in global crop pollinator communities.

While an increasing number of studies indicate that range, diversity and abundance of many wild pollinators has declined, the global area of pollinator-dependent crops has significantly increased over the last few decades. Crop pollination studies to date, have mainly focused on either identifying different guilds pollinating various crops, or on factors driving spatial changes and turnover observed in these communities. The mechanisms driving temporal stability for ecosystem functioning and services, however, remain poorly understood. Our study quantifies temporal variability observed in crop pollinators in 21 different crops across multiple years at a global scale. Using data from 43 studies from six continents, we show that (i) higher pollinator diversity confers greater inter-annual stability in pollinator communities, (ii) temporal variation observed in pollinator abundance is primarily driven by the three most dominant species, and (iii) crops in tropical regions demonstrate higher inter-annual variability in pollinator species richness than crops in temperate regions. We highlight the importance of recognising wild pollinator diversity in agricultural landscapes to stabilize pollinator persistence across years to protect both biodiversity and crop pollination services. Short-term agricultural management practices aimed at dominant species for stabilising pollination services need to be considered alongside longer-term conservation goals focussed on maintaining and facilitating biodiversity to confer ecological stability

Wildflowers enhance pollinator services

<p>By supporting wild pollinators and increasing the overall biodiversity within the agroecosystem, native wildflower plantings may provide crop yield benefits and return on investment for growers, reducing their dependency on rented honey bees and insuring against loss of pollination due to inclement weather.</p

Pollinator observations 2009-2012

<p>Pollinator observational data in blueberry fields adjacent to wildflower plantings and fields adjacent to control (grass) field margins.</p

Spotted Lanternfly Management in Nurseries, Orchards, Vineyards, and Natural Areas in South Carolina and Georgia

This publication highlights the current status of the spotted lanternfly, an invasive pest that threatens fruit and tree crops in the eastern U.S. As of 2019, the spotted lanternfly is not in South Carolina or Georgia. We discuss biology, ecology, and management methods for this new invasive pest

Exploring risk factors for insect borer attack in Georgia's (USA) urban landscapes.

Urban trees are at risk of stress due to heat island effects and the increased proportion of impervious areas surrounding them. Among pests of trees, insect borers such as bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) and flatheaded borers (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) are some of the most devastating, frequently colonizing stressed trees. The objective of this study was to explore the effects of biotic and abiotic risk factors on borer attacks on trees in urban areas. In the summer of 2021 and 2022, this study was conducted in 50 urban sites in Atlanta and Augusta, Georgia (USA). Specific factors explored include overall tree health, differentially warmer maximum and minimum temperatures of sites compared to surrounding areas, tree species, and the percentage of impervious surface surrounding trees. Generalized linear models and zero-inflated models explored how these factors were related to damage from these borers. The number of borer attacks on trees increased with higher percentage impervious area. As the two most commonly encountered trees, Acer rubrum was found to be significantly more susceptible to attack from borers than Ulmus parvifolia. Unhealthy trees were more likely to experience more frequent and more severe borer attack. Trees with increased impervious cover around them as well as those with differentially warmer daily maximum and minimum temperatures relative to surrounding were more likely to be attacked

Utilizing immunomarking techniques to track Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) movement and distribution within a peach orchard

In this study we focus on the invasive brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), which has a strong dispersal capacity and has had a significant impact on several cropping systems, including peach (Prunus persica (L.)). Management of H. halys has relied on intensive insecticide use, and thus a better understanding of its dispersal behavior may assist in developing improved management strategies. In order to investigate H. halys movement and distribution patterns within a peach orchard we applied ecologically safe, food protein markers to the trees along the orchard border (chicken egg albumin in the form of liquid egg whites) and to the trees within the orchard interior (bovine casein in the form of cow’s milk). We used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) to assess whether collected H. halys were “marked” with either of the two protein markers, revealing where in the orchard the bugs had visited. From the density data we determined that H. halys is a perimeter-driven pest in peaches, with a significantly higher density of bugs collected along the orchard border. Interestingly, this trend is primarily driven by the distribution of male bugs. The protein marking data revealed that a small proportion of male H. halys move equally between the orchard border and interior, while a small proportion of females move predominately to the border after visiting the interior. The verification of a strong edge-effect, although potentially sex-specific, implies that H. halys displays a dispersal behavior that may also be exploited for management, which may help growers more efficiently and more effectively manage H. halys