Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Corpus Christi, Texas
The invasive brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) can cause significant injury to many specialty and row crops. In particular, tree fruit is vulnerable to injury, requiring growers to make repeated applications of broad-spectrum insecticides. To reduce these insecticide applications, various IPM tactics including border row sprays, trap-based treatment thresholds and attract-and-kill have been developed. Moreover, with the presence of adventive populations of the Asian egg parasitoid, Trissolcus japonicus, in many locations affected by BMSB, it is critical to consider how best to integrate this effective biological control agent with other IPM tactics. Here, we report on adult T. japonicus survivorship and emergence from parasitized egg masses following exposure to common insecticides applied against BMSB using various IPM strategies in apple orchards. We found that while some insecticides such as the pyrethroid bifenthrin affected both adult survivorship and wasp emergence in treated areas, untreated areas, i.e., refugia, created by IPM tactics, improved overall adult survivorship and emergence from egg masses. Thus, biological control agents such as T. japonicus can be successfully integrated into for IPM programs for BMSB.
