First report of Trissolcus japonicus parasitizing Halyomorpha halys in North American agriculture

Authors: Kaser, Joseph; AKOTSEN-MENSAH, CLEMENT - Rutgers University; TALAMAS, ELIJAH - Florida State Department Of Agriculture; NIELSEN, ANNE - Rutgers University

Submitted to: Florida Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/3/2018
Publication Date: 12/1/2018
Citation: Kaser, J.M., Akotsen-Mensah, C., Talamas, E.J., Nielsen, A.L. 2018. First report of Trissolcus japonicus parasitizing Halyomorpha halys in North American agriculture. Florida Entomologist. 101(4): 680-683. https://doi.org/10.1653/024.101.0406.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1653/024.101.0406

Interpretive Summary: The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is a serious invasive agricultural pest in the US. A beneficial insect called the samurai wasp that is a natural enemy of BMSB was recently introduced to North America. However, the samurai wasp has not yet been documented attacking BMSB within agricultural crops. We here present the first documentation of the samurai wasp attacking BMSB in North American agriculture. We found it attacking BMSB in peach orchards in New Jersey. We present data on attack rates and the ecological and management context under which the insects were found. This information will be helpful for researchers trying to understand how to utilize the samurai wasp for biological control of BMSB in an integrated pest management system.

Technical Abstract: Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), the brown marmorated stink bug, an invasive agricultural pest in America and Europe, is reaching a global distribution. In the US, the first detection of H. halys was in the mid–1990s, and it has become a serious pest in multiple crop systems. In 2014, an exotic egg parasitoid, Trissolcus japonicus (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae), was documented parasitizing sentinel H. halys egg masses in a wooded habitat in Beltsville, Maryland, USA. The parasitoid has since been reported in several other locations in the eastern and western US, and its population appears to be expanding in geographic range. However, there have been no reports of T. japonicus parasitizing H. halys egg masses within cultivated crops in the US. Whereas attack of H. halys in non-agricultural habitat may provide important biological control services in the landscape, if T. japonicus is not able to successfully forage for H. halys eggs within crops, its impact as a biological control agent may be limited. Here we report on successful parasitism of egg masses deployed in 2 peach orchards in New Jersey, USA Egg masses were deployed as part of an experiment investigating the efficacy of an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy utilizing border insecticide sprays in apple and peach. While overall egg parasitism was low, the majority of successfully developing parasitoids (97.4% of total adult parasitoids emerging, and from 75% of successfully parasitized sentinel egg masses) were T. japonicus.