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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #314154
Title: Trissolcus japonicus (Ashmead) emerges in North America

Author
item Talamas, Elijah
item Herlihy-Adams, Megan
item Dieckhoff, Christine
item Hoelmer, Kim
item Buffington, Matthew
item BON, MARIE-CLAUDE - University Of Montpellier
item Weber, Donald

Submitted to: Journal of Hymenoptera Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/5/2015
Publication Date: 3/27/2015
Citation: Talamas, E.J., Herlihy, M., Dieckoff, C., Hoelmer, K., Buffington, M.L., Bon, M., Weber, D. 2015. Trissolcus japonicus (Ashmead) emerges in North America. Journal of Hymenoptera Research. 43:119-128.

Interpretive Summary: The invasive brown marmorated stink bug was identified in the U.S. in 2001 and has spread to the west coast and has been found in 41 states. Thirteen states on both coasts have reported significant agricultural damage in addition to the nuisance status of the stink bug as an invader of buildings during the late fall and winter. In its native Asian range the stink bug is a sporadic, regionally localized pest. In its introduced range in the U.S., it feeds on a wide variety of fruit and vegetable crops and has become a significant agricultural pest. Chemical control strategies have not prevented it from causing economic damage. In Asia the stink bug’s natural enemies help to prevent it from reaching damaging numbers. These natural enemies were brought to quarantine laboratories in the U.S. for evaluation by ARS and state researchers as potential biological control agents of the stink bug in North America. An ARS survey of resident natural enemies of the stink bug in 2014 revealed that a parasitic wasp which is a key natural enemy of brown marmorated stink bug in Asia was already present in the wild at the study site in Maryland. It is not known how the wasp arrived to that site, but it is presumed accidental. If it survives and spreads to other regions, it will help to reduce populations of the brown marmorated stink bug in North America. This paper will critical for researchers, extension entomologists, and biological control practitioners interested in control of the brown marmorated stink bug.

Technical Abstract: Trissolcus japonicus (Ashmead) is an Asian egg parasitoid of the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål). It has been under study in U.S. quarantine facilities since 2007 to evaluate its efficacy as a candidate classical biological control agent and its host specificity with regard to the pentatomid fauna native to the United States. A survey of resident egg parasitoids conducted in 2014 with sentinel egg masses of H. halys revealed that T. japonicus was already present in the wild in Beltsville, Maryland. Seven parasitized egg masses were recovered, of which six yielded live T. japonicus adults. All of these were in a wooded habitat, whereas egg masses placed in nearby soybean fields and an abandoned apple orchard showed no T. japonicus parasitism. How T. japonicus came to that site is unknown and presumed accidental.