Successful management of Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in commercial apple orchards with an attract-and-kill strategy

Authors: Morrison, William - Rob; BLAAUW, BRETT - University Of Georgia; Short, Brent; NIELSEN, ANNE - Rutgers University; BERGH, J - Virginia Tech; KRAWCZYK, GREG - Pennsylvania State University; PARK, YONG-LAK - West Virginia University; BUTLER, BRYAN - University Of Maryland; Khrimian, Ashot; Leskey, Tracy

Submitted to: Pest Management Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/25/2018
Publication Date: 12/6/2018
Citation: Morrison III, W.R., Blaauw, B.R., Short, B.D., Nielsen, A.L., Bergh, J.C., Krawczyk, G., Park, Y., Butler, B., Khrimian, A., Leskey, T.C. 2018. Successful management of Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in commercial apple orchards with an attract-and-kill strategy. Pest Management Science. 75(1):104-114. https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.5156.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.5156

Interpretive Summary: The brown marmorated stink bug is a serious agricultural problem in the United States, which requires frequent insecticide sprays in fruit crops. Attract-and-kill is an alternative tactic so-named for the ability of pheromones to attract bugs from a distance to a restricted area with a killing agent, thus reducing the need to spray an entire crop. In an evaluation of whether attract-and-kill could be effective in managing stink bug populations in commercial apple orchards, we found that fruit blocks protected by attract-and-kill usually were equivalent to or had 2-7 times less fruit damage (both severity and frequency) than grower standard practices. In a handful of select trees, attract-and-kill was able to eliminate over 10,000 stink bugs over two years. The use of attract-and-kill decreased the area sprayed in the orchard by 97%, while reducing actual insecticide active ingredient used by 80%. Overall, the use of attract-and-kill is effective at managing stink bugs, but the cost and labor associated with pheromone deployment needs to be optimized in order to increase economic feasibility for grower adoption.

Technical Abstract: Introduction of Halyomorpha halys in the US has disrupted many established integrated pest management programs for specialty crops, especially apple. One potential alternative tactic is attract-and-kill (AK) whereby all life stages of H. halys are lured to a circumscribed area using attractive semiochemicals and removed from the foraging population with an insecticide. The goal of this study was to evaluate whether AK can be implemented in commercial apple orchards to effectively manage the threat posed by H. halys. Over two years at farms in 5 mid-Atlantic US States, we found that the use of AK controlled the frequency and severity of fruit damage similarly to grower standard practices, or else reduced damage by 2-7 times, depending on year and period. At select AK-baited trees, over 10,000 H. halys individuals were killed in two growing seasons, while use of AK reduced the crop area treated with insecticide against H. halys by 97%. Using AK had no impact on the natural enemy or secondary pest community over the same period. Overall, use of attract-and-kill is effective at managing H. halys populations in low to moderate population years, but needs to be optimized in order to increase economic feasibility for grower adoption.