Good Fruit Grower

October 2012

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Apples Stinkbug biocontrol Native predators might be developing a taste for B Chinese food. by Richard Lehnert rown marmorated stinkbug, an invasive insect from Asia, swept over the Mid-Atlantic states' fruit crops like a tsunami in the fall of 2010, causing millions of dollars in damage to peaches and apples and leaving growers worried that it might be worse the next year. It wasn't. In 2011, the damage was less, leaving growers unsure why that was and shifting their concern to the size of the next wave, coming this fall. "So far this year, we have not seen significant problems in tree fruit," said "So far this year, we have not seen significant problems in tree fruit. But it's early yet." —Tracy Leskey Tracy Leskey, leader of the USDA's brown marmorated stinkbug project at the Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, West Virginia. "But it's early yet," she said in mid-July. "The summer generation is now reproducing, so it'll be mid- to late August and October before we know how big the population will be this fall." It hasn't been easy to sort it all out. The real world isn't a good scientific laboratory. Last year's late-season tropical weather—hot and rainy—could have killed many of the bugs, drowning mil- lions of them, reducing their damage and depleting the population going into overwintering sites, Leskey said. Growers also learned a lot from that first wave of damage, and they were pre- pared last year with an intensive spray program and insecticides that would kill the bugs. Growers had to resort to older chemicals that they had abandoned because the newer insecticides, more tar- geted to other insects, wouldn't kill the stinkbugs. Nature snapping back? There is a third possible explanation for what's happening, and that's one Dr. David Biddinger hopes is taking place. "Nature is starting to snap back," he said. In a cute way of thinking about it, he said, "Our existing generalist predators are acquiring a taste for Chinese food. "All of us are more hopeful that the natives will start taking a chunk out of the population," he said. "Even a 25 percent reduction would really help." www.goodfruit.com L5740 L4600 Biddinger is Pennsylvania State Uni- versity's biocontrol specialist at the Fruit Research and Extension Center in Biglerville. He's part of the team of ento- mologists working to combat the brown marmorated stinkbug. He says, integrated pest management, in which predators and parasites are used along with pesti- cides to control insects and mites, has saved millions of dollars in spray costs. The new stinkbug, accidentally intro- duced from Asia about 15 years ago and finally reaching damaging numbers in 2010, caused many growers to abandon the IPM approach, at least temporarily. "We're already seeing flare-ups of sec- ondary pests that were being controlled by predators and parasites," he said. These include woolly and rosy apple aphids, and tentiform leafminers. One project under way is evaluating a parasitic wasp from Asia that is known to attack brown marmorated stinkbug eggs. It is being led by Kim Hoelmer, a research entomologist at the USDA's Beneficial Insects Introduction Research Unit in Newark, Delaware. The wasp, in the genus Trissolcus, must pass from quarantine before it is set free in the general environ- ment. It must first be shown not to attack Kubota is celebrating 40 years in America with money-saving fi nance offers and the promise that your new Kubota is a powerhouse of engineering and reliability. Standing the test of time is Kubota's strength – because productivity is yours. Join the Kubota movement: 40 Years Strong. Down Instant Kubota Bucks up to $2,000** $750 Instant Kubota Bucks** OR Financing PLUS BLUELINE EQUIPMENT CO. 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