Michigan brown marmorated stink bug report for September 12, 2014

More nymph and adult brown marmorated stink bugs were caught during the week of Sept. 5-11, 2014, at seven sites in Berrien, Lenawee and Ingham counties. Homeowners in Berrien County are starting to report them in greater number.

This is the tenth weekly report of the Michigan State University Extension brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) statewide monitoring program for 2014. This monitoring network has been set up to provide early warning should BMSB start showing up in greater numbers in fruit and vegetable production areas.

A total of 25 nymph and 23 adult BMSB were captured in traps at seven out of the 77 sites being monitored. This is up from last week, but still lower than what we were finding this time last year. Sites where we captured BMSB this week include two orchards in Berrien County, one apple and one peach, and five urban or roadside sites near soybean fields in Berrien, Lenawee and Ingham counties. Homeowners near Stevensville in Berrien County are also beginning to report BMSB on sides of their houses in greater numbers this week. Look for them on the soffit or under the eaves where they may be aggregating and searching for places to overwinter.

The monitoring network uses pyramid-style, pheromone-baited traps set up at sites that favor BMSB, near riparian areas or along major transportation corridors in the following counties: Monroe, Lenawee, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, Ingham, Lapeer, Saginaw and Bay on the east side of the state, and Antrim, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Benzie, Oceana, Newaygo, Kent, Ionia, Ottawa, Allegan, Van Buren and Berrien on the west side of the state. The majority of the sites in the network include farms that grow a variety of fruit and vegetable crops including apples, tart cherries, sweet cherries, peaches, blueberries, raspberries, tomatoes, peppers and sweet corn. In addition, some of our traps have been placed along roadsides next to field crops, or in urban and suburban areas where homeowners have reported seeing BMSB in the past.

To learn more about how to monitor for the brown marmorated stink bug, distinguish it from other similar-looking stink bugs, what crops it favors, and management strategies should populations reach the threshold where management is necessary, visit MSU’s Brown Marmorated Stink Bug website.

The weekly BMSB statewide monitoring report has been funded through Project GREEEN and Michigan State University Extension. This output is generated through a network of MSU Extension field staff and campus specialists. We would like to acknowledge the following team members and thank them for their weekly scouting efforts and input into this report: Peter McGhee, Michael Haas, Bob Tritten, Mark Longstroth, Brad Baughman, Carlos Garcia, Amy Irish-Brown, Lina Rodriguez Salamanca, Ben Philips, Ben Werling, Mark Whalon, Karen Powers, and Nikki Rothwell.

Dr. Gut’s work is funded in part by MSU’s AgBioResearch.

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