Areawide Pest Management Research Site Logo
ARS Home About Us Helptop nav spacerContact Us En Espanoltop nav spacer
Printable VersionPrintable Version     E-mail this pageE-mail this page
Agricultural Research Service United States Department of Agriculture
Search
  Advanced Search
 
Programs and Projects
Subjects of Investigation
 

Research Project: ECOLOGICALLY BASED MANAGEMENT OF BOLL WEEVILS AND OTHER ROW CROP PESTS UNDER TRANSITION TO BOLL WEEVIL ERADICATION IN TEMPERATE REGIONS

Location: Areawide Pest Management Research

Title: Euschistus servus (Say): A new host record for Mermithidae (Mermithida)

Author

Submitted to: Southwestern Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: April 20, 2011
Publication Date: July 1, 2011
Citation: Esquivel, J.F. 2011. Euschistus servus (Say): A new host record for Mermithidae (Mermithida). Southwestern Entomologist. 36:207-211.

Interpretive Summary: Brown stink bugs are pests of cotton, and fruit and nut crops, that affect yield quality and quantity. Brown stink bug adults infected with nematodes were collected in pheromone traps located between a commercial cotton field and a pecan orchard in Central Texas. This report presents the first record of nematode infections in brown stink bugs. The nematodes were immature states of nematodes belonging to the family Mermithidae (Mermithida). Nematodes have previously been used as biological control agents of insect pest species, and this report provides a foundation for future research of mermithid nematodes as potential control agents of brown stink bugs and related insects that overwinter in orchard floors or other ground cover.

Technical Abstract: The brown stink bug complex (Euschistus spp.) and related hemipterans are key pests of cotton, and fruit and nut crops, affecting yield quality and quanitity. In an ongoing study assessing seasonal abundance of Euschistus servus (Say) (Hempitera: Pentatomidae) and related species in Central Texas, pheromone traps situated at the interface of commercial cotton and a pecan orchard captured E. servus adults infected with nematodes. The nematodes were fourth stage infective juveniles belonging to the family Merithidae (Merithida). This report presents the first record of nematode infections by Mermithidae (Mermithida) in E. servus. Because nematodes have been used as biological control agents in many insect pest species, this report provides a foundation for future research of mermithid nematodes as potential control agents of E. servus and other related hemipteran species that overwinter in orchard floors or other ground cover.

   

 
Project Team
Westbrook, John
Suh, Charles
Jones, Gretchen
Nachman, Ronald - Ron
 
Publications
   Publications
 
Related National Programs
  Crop Protection & Quarantine (304)
 
Related Projects
   RATIONAL DESIGN OF INSECT CONTROL AGENT PROTOTYPES BASED ON PYROKININ/PBAN NEUROPEPTIDE ANTAGONISTS
   LINKS BETWEEN RETURN MIGRATION OF CROP PEST INSECTS AND BAT FORAGING BEHAVIORS AND BODY CONDITION
   PREDICTIVE MODELING & MITIGATION OF EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON MIGRATION & INFESTATION PATTERNS OF SEMITROPICAL/TROPICAL CROP PEST INSECTS
   MANIPULATING THE OVERWINTERING DIAPAUSE OF HELIOTHINES WITH DIAPAUSE HORMONE
 
 
Last Modified: 05/23/2013
ARS Home | USDA.gov | Site Map | Policies and Links 
FOIA | Accessibility Statement | Privacy Policy | Nondiscrimination Statement | Information Quality | USA.gov | White House