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Title: A new invasive species in maryland: the biology and distribution of kudzu bug, megacopta cribraria (fabricius) (femiptera: plataspidae)

Author
item LESLIE, ALAN - University Of Maryland
item SARGENT, CHRIS - University Of Maryland
item STEINER, WAMER - Smithsonian Institute
item LAMP, WILLIAM - University Of Maryland
item SWEARINGEN, JIL - National Park Service
item PAGAC, BENEDICT - Non ARS Employee
item WILLIAMS, GAYE - Maryland Department Of Agriculture
item Weber, Donald
item RAUPP, MICHAEL - University Of Maryland

Submitted to: The Maryland Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/6/2014
Publication Date: 9/18/2014
Citation: Leslie, A., Sargent, C., Steiner, W.E., Lamp, W.O., Swearingen, J.M., Pagac, B.B., Williams, G.L., Weber, D.C., Raupp, M.J. 2014. A new invasive species in maryland: the biology and distribution of kudzu bug, megacopta cribraria (fabricius) (femiptera: plataspidae). The Maryland Entomologist. 6(2):2-23.

Interpretive Summary: Invasive insect species are a threat to US agriculture that has grown with increased foreign trade with Asia and other potential source areas. In spite of the efforts at exclusion, several significant pest species have recently become established in the US, including the true bug known as kudzu bug, which in addition to infesting the invasive vine kudzu, is a known threat to the second-most valuable crop in the US, soybean. In order to assess how best to manage this new pest, researchers need first to document the spread of kudzu bug as well as to see what plant hosts it is feeding upon, and what its life cycle and climatic limitations, including overwintering, are, in new parts of its range. The article presents findings on kudzu bug distribution after the first year of its appearance in the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia. Several southern counties showed infestations on kudzu; however, only one occurence was documented on soybean: in Dorcester County on the Eastern Shore. The bug apparently has two generations per year in Maryland, overwintering in the adult stage. The severe winter of 2013-14 resulted in significant kudzu bug mortality in Maryland. Results will aid researchers, pest managers, and soybean growers to develop environmentally responsible integrated pest management options for kuzu bug.

Technical Abstract: The relaxation of trade restrictions in the 1960s and 70s led to an unintended exchange of invasive insect species as well as manufactured goods between the United States and its new trade partners. Consequently, the number of exotic insect pests accidently entering and taking up residence in the U.S. has increased dramatically over the past several decades. A recent arrival from Asia, the kudzu bug, Megacopta cribraria (Fabricius), also known as the bean plataspid, lablab bug, and globular stink bug, represents a family completely new to this continent. Although it belongs to the stink bug superfamily (Pentatomoidea), M. cribraria is the only member of the Plataspidae currently known to occur in the New World. First reported in Georgia in 2009, M. cribraria has spread rapidly and was confirmed in Maryland in 2013. Initially regarded as a nuisance pest by home owners, instead M. cribraria has become a serious pest of soybeans and, potentially, of other leguminous crops. This article summarizes the known history, biology, identification, and movement of M. cribraria in the United States and Maryland to date, as well as environmentally responsible integrated pest management options.