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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Byron, Georgia » Fruit and Tree Nut Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #308437
Title: Assays of Orchard-Applied Insecticides on the Brown Stink Bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Feeding on Pecan

Author
item Cottrell, Ted
item REE, WILLIAM - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: Journal of Entomological Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/1/2015
Publication Date: 7/1/2016
Citation: Cottrell, T.E., Ree, W. 2016. Assays of Orchard-Applied Insecticides on the Brown Stink Bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Feeding on Pecan. Journal of Entomological Science. 51(3):179-198.

Interpretive Summary: The brown stink bug is an economic pest of pecan across the southcentral and southeastern U.S. Thus management of this pest in both orchard and row crops is sought using insecticides. Even though the label for many insecticidal products, either specifically or generically, include one or more stink bug species as target pests, the efficacy of these products against the brown stink bug attacking pecan generally is not well documented. Therefore we assayed various insecticide products applied to pecan for their efficacy against the brown stink bug. Products were applied, within the labelled rate range, to pecan nut clusters in orchards in Texas and Georgia. Tree terminals with treated nuts were cut from the tree and taken to the laboratory 1, 4 and 7, days after treatment to determine residual insecticide activity. Treated nuts were placed singly in cups and a brown stink bug was put in each cup. Treatment effects on the brown stink bug were recorded at 24, 48 and 72 hours. It was found that insecticide products containing the active ingredient bifenthrin provided better control of the brown stink bug. Residual activity against E. servus was best with products containing bifenthrin than any other insecticide tested, including the organophosphate chlorpyrifos. Although the label of some insecticide products may target certain stink bug species, most of these products performed poorly against the brown stink bug. Control of this damaging pest on pecan is best achieved with products containing bifenthrin.

Technical Abstract: The polyphagous brown stink bug, Euschistus servus (Say) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is an economic pest of pecan, Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh) K. Koch (Juglandaceae), and other agronomic crops across the southcentral and southeastern U.S.A. Management of this pest in both orchards and row crops is sought using insecticides. Although numerous products, either specifically or generically, indicate one or more stink bug species (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) as target pests on the label, the efficacy of these products against E. servus attacking pecan generally is not well documented. Thus, we assayed various products applied to pecan for their efficacy against E. servus. Products were applied, within the labelled rate range, to pecan nut clusters in orchards in Texas and Georgia. Tree terminals with treated nuts were cut from the tree and taken to the laboratory 1, 4 and 7, days after treatment. Treated nuts were placed individually in cups and adult E. servus put into the cups. Treatment effects on E. servus were recorded at 24, 48 and 72 hours. Insecticide products containing the active ingredient bifenthrin resulted in higher control of the brown stink bug. Residual activity against E. servus was best with products containing bifenthrin than any other insecticide tested including the organophosphate chlorpyrifos. Although the label of some insecticide products may target certain stink bug species, most of these products performed poorly against the brown stink bug. Overall, the brown stink bug is notoriously harder to control than the co-occurring green (Chinavia hilaris [Say]) and southern green (Nezara viridula [L.]) stink bugs. Control of this damaging pest on pecan is best achieved with products containing bifenthrin.