The green stink bug is a common garden and crop pest.
The green stink bug is the most common stink bug pest in the United States, occupying most states as well as parts of Canada, and at least 52 host plants ranging from pine and fruit trees to weeds and cultivated crops. Stink bugs become active during the first warm days of spring when they mate but are most common in mid- to late June. Both the nymph and adult stages are capable of inflicting considerable damage to their host plants. Does this Spark an idea?
Description
The green stink bug is part of the insect order Heteroptera, or true bugs, because they have two pairs of wings and sharp, piercing mouth parts with which they suck sap from plants. True bugs also undergo incomplete metamorphosis, meaning they go from an egg to a wingless nymph that will molt five times before reaching adulthood.
The adult green stink bug measures about 1/2 to 3/4 inch and has a green, shield-shaped body with a narrow, orange-yellow border. Nymphs of the species look like smaller adults but are wingless and black. The nymphs of the southern green stink bug are light green with two series of white spots along their backs.
Distribution
The green stink bug is the most common stink bug in North America, inhabiting areas as far north as Quebec, south to Florida and across the country to California. The southern green stink bug has a range that is limited to an area from Texas to the Atlantic coast and north to Virginia.
Favorite Foods and Habitat
Green stink bugs are polyphagous, which means they feed on and damage many host plants. In the case of the green stink bug, their hosts plants can include black cherry and elderberry, dogwood, basswood, pine and deciduous trees, shrubs, vines, weeds and many cultivated crops including soybeans, cotton, fruit trees and their fruit, tomatoes, beans, peas and corn.
Using their sharp mouth parts, stink bugs pierce the plant and suck out the fluids. An enzyme that softens the fruit is injected, causing damage. An injury known as cat-facing can occur on fruit, which involves the fruit ceasing to grow around the bite, disfiguring it. Wounds made from feeding stink bugs can also open the way for fungus and other pathogens to enter.
Life Stages
In spring, the stink bug will lay around 36 barrel-shaped eggs in clusters on the leaves or seed pods of its host plant. A nymph will hatch and then go through five molts before reaching its adult stage about 35 days from the time the egg hatches. In northern regions, one generation will be produced per year. In the south, where the seasons are longer, two or more generations per year can be expected.
Young stink bugs hibernate in leaf beds, along fence rows or under tree bark. Adult stink bugs live approximately 2 months.
Control
Stink bugs can be controlled through chemical attack, but they also have natural predators, including birds, toads, spiders, insect-eating mammals, bees, wasps, ants and some flies. The stink bug's only defense against predators is its ability to emit an unpleasant odor, hence its name.
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