The influence of marking methods on mobility, survivorship and field recovery of Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) adults and nymphs

Authors: KIRKPATRICK, DANIELLE - Trece, Inc; RICE, KEVIN - University Of Missouri; IBRAHIM, AYA - University Of Udine; FLEISCHER, SHELBY - Pennsylvania State University; TOOKER, JOHN - Pennsylvania State University; Tabb, Amy; MEDEIROS, HENRY - Marquette University; GISH, MOSHE - University Of Haifa; Morrison, William - Rob; Leskey, Tracy

Submitted to: Environmental Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/17/2020
Publication Date: 8/29/2020
Citation: Kirkpatrick, D.M., Rice, K.B., Ibrahim, A., Fleischer, S.J., Tooker, J.F., Tabb, A., Medeiros, H., Gish, M., Morrison III, W.R., Leskey, T.C. 2020. The influence of marking methods on mobility, survivorship and field recovery of Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) adults and nymphs. Environmental Entomology. 49(5):1026-1031. https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvaa095.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvaa095

Interpretive Summary: The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is an invasive and widespread insect that can cause serious economic harm to agriculture in the US and around the world. This is a very mobile species that can fly 2.5 km in a day, and to properly develop control strategies for the species, it is important to have methods to track its movement that do not affect its behavior or survivorship. In this study, we assessed two methods for marking stink bugs: either marking individuals on their backs using a fluorescent neon pen or marking groups of individuals using fluorescent powders manufactured by DayGlo. We assessed the effect of four colors (orange, pink, blue, and green) on adult and immature mobility and survivorship. We found the neon pen persisted for three weeks, while the fluorescent powders persisted for a week under field conditions. However, it took 14-times longer to apply marks to the backs of stink bugs individually with the pens than in the group-marking procedure. None of the marking techniques or colors affected survivorship, horizontal movement, vertical climbing, or flight capacity of BMSB relative to untreated controls. Ultimately, both techniques can be used to mark and track movement of BMSB, which may help to inform pest management tactics for this important species.

Technical Abstract: Halyomorpha halys (Stål), the brown marmorated stink bug, is an invasive and highly polyphagous insect that can cause serious economic injury to specialty and row crops in the USA and globally. Here, techniques for marking adult and nymphal H. halys with four different colors of fluorescent dust (Blaze Orange, Corona Pink, Horizon Blue, and Signal Green) were evaluated in the laboratory to examine their influence on adult and nymphal mobility and survivorship, and adult flight capacity. This marking technique had no significant effects on adult or nymphal mobility, survivorship or adult flight capacity and is an inexpensive method that can be used for quickly marking large numbers of insects. A second technique for marking the pronotum of adult H. halys with neon markers was evaluated in field studies to measure the persistence of marks on H. halys adults. Marks persisted for as long as three weeks in the field and although this technique is quite reliable, it requires a greater time investment. It takes ~14 times longer to apply marks to individual pronota compared with applying fluorescent dusts to groups of H. halys. Ultimately, both techniques can be used to mark H. halys for subsequent mark-release-recapture methods as they have no negative impacts on mobility or survivorship, are inexpensive and persist for a minimum of one week.