Question about the spread of the Brown Marmorated Stinkbug

[Athelas]

Hi folks,

I'm considering doing some behavioral research with Brown Marmorated Stinkbugs (Halyomorpha halys) looking at the influence of some peculiarities in their copulation behavior and population growth. According to various media sources, the species is verging on destructive population sizes of "biblical proportions".

http://bird-n-bee.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-would-moses-have-thought-of-brown.html

They have been spreading rapidly in the NE US over the last few years, but I am curious how far they have spread. Here in NJ I do not recall seeing them prior to a few years ago, but now I am pulling them off the walls regularly.

Are those of you who live outside the NE noticing them with any frequency?

Scott
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interested in animal behavior? Visit The Birds and the Bees: Things you were
afraid to ask about the secret lives of animals. http://bird-n-bee.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[moose35]

i myself hadn't noticed them till a few years ago...now seem to be everywhere.


moose

 

[Athelas]

Thanks Moose!

 

[Stylopidae]

If you're planning on doing research into these guys, shouldn't you be asking folks to send you specimens to ID?

I'm sure there are dozens of native species which would look to the amateur identical to the one you posted above and thus, asking for sightings on an online forum might not be the best way to figure rate of spread.

 

[Athelas]

Good point! And I'm happy to receive any that folks might like to send.

But I am not really looking to get data for a study from the online poll -- rather just a "grass roots" feeling for how much of a pest these bugs really are. The news media like to sensationalize things, so I was hoping for some ground truthing so to speak. (they are becoming so common here in NJ/PA that many people I talk to "know em when they see em")

The study I have in mind isn't directly about their spread or impact, but more on their behavioral ecology. There was an earlier study in Japan that suggested the genus copulates more often than other pentatomids and that there were reproductive differences among females that copulated more/less often, with a life history tradeoff in longevity. I'm interested in manipulating copulation frequency to determine how it affects population growth.

Scott

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interested in animal behavior? Visit The Birds and the Bees: Things you were
afraid to ask about the secret lives of animals. http://bird-n-bee.blogspot.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Stylopidae]

Dr. Jeremy Greene at Clemson University has been doing research into Pentatomids as cotton pests. I'm pretty sure this type of research has been done or is being done currently. He'd be able to give you some details and the most current distribution data for the group.

 

[GenXtra]

Has anyone heard of or themselves found where these can be fed successfully to T's or Scorpions (or anything for that matter)?

These free grazers (staring at one right now) have been roaming these parts, especially my walls/curtains for a number of years now & rather than drop 'em in my bottle of sleepy sauce, I'd rather use them as feeders.

Something tells me no, but I'm hoping otherwise.

 

[bulbophyllum]

Has anyone heard of or themselves found where these can be fed successfully to T's or Scorpions (or anything for that matter)?

These free grazers (staring at one right now) have been roaming these parts, especially my walls/curtains for a number of years now & rather than drop 'em in my bottle of sleepy sauce, I'd rather use them as feeders.

Something tells me no, but I'm hoping otherwise.

I found jumping spider eating one this summer.

gary

 

[GenXtra]

I found jumping spider eating one this summer.

gary View attachment 260605

Chalk one up for the good guys.