Nutrient content of brown marmorated stink bug eggs and comparisons between experimental uses

Authors: SKILLMAN, VICTORIA - Oregon State University; Lee, Jana

Submitted to: Journal of Insect Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/30/2017
Publication Date: 12/20/2017
Citation: Skillman, V., Lee, J.C. 2017. Nutrient content of brown marmorated stink bug eggs and comparisons between experimental uses. Journal of Insect Science. 17(6):120. https://doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/iex098.

Interpretive Summary: The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) has become a major crop and nuisance pest across the US. We designed seven experiments to measure the lipid, glycogen and sugar content of their eggs. This knowledge is important to understand what mothers must invest to reproduce, and compare typical egg clusters used for biological control studies. Among the 542 egg clusters examined, the average BMSB egg contained 23.50 ± 0.561 µg lipid, 3.17 ± 0.089 µg glycogen, and 3.08 ± 0.056 µg sugar. Mature eggs inside a female’s ovary can make up 61% of her total lipid, 35% of glycogen, and 20% of sugar levels. Eggs that are obtained from a colony reared on a constant have consistent nutrient content even though parental females are aging. Likewise, whether an egg turned grey following removal from cold storage, whether an egg was frozen within 1 or 3 days of being laid, the temperature that eggs are placed at for experimentation did not affect egg nutrient content. However, egg nutrient content can differ substantially by the source of the parental females, the length of time that eggs are frozen in storage, and deployment length in experiments. These studies provide basic information about egg nutrient content and suggest factors that influence nutrient levels. This information combined with how natural enemies select host eggs will help researchers refine future experiments that use egg clusters.

Technical Abstract: Halyomorpha halys (Stål), the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), has become a major crop and nuisance pest across the US. Here, seven experiments examined the currently unknown nutrient content of their eggs in the context of female reproductive investment and typical egg clusters used for biological control studies. Among the 542 egg clusters examined, the average BMSB egg contained 23.50 ± 0.561 µg lipid, 3.17 ± 0.089 µg glycogen, and 3.08 ± 0.056 µg sugar. Mature eggs within a female’s ovary can make up 61% of her total lipid, 35% of glycogen, and 20% of sugar levels. Eggs obtained from a colony reared on a constant diet are expected to have consistent nutrient content. The age of a parental female only slightly affected the lipid level of oviposited eggs, but did not affect glycogen or sugar levels. However, egg nutrient content can differ substantially by the source of the parental females; wild eggs had higher lipid but lower sugar content than colony-produced eggs. Further, the length of time that eggs are frozen influenced egg nutrient content. Freshly laid eggs had higher lipid and lower sugar levels than eggs frozen for 1 or 2 yr. Whether an egg turned grey following removal from cold storage did not affect egg nutrient content, nor did being frozen within 1 or 3 d of oviposition. The temperature at which eggs were left exposed for did not impact egg nutrient content, but glycogen decreased and sugar increased with deployment time. These studies provide basic information about egg nutrient content and allude to factors that influence nutrient levels. This information combined with how factors affect host selection by natural enemies will help inform future experiments that use egg clusters.