The effect of land use and host density on the natural enemies of Halyomorpha halys (Stal) in the Mid-Atlantic USA

Authors: MCDOUGALL, ROBERT - Rutgers University; Acebes-Doria, Angelita; BERGH, J. CHRISTOPHER - Virginia Tech; Cullum, John; FLEISCHER, SHELBY - Pennsylvania State University; HAMILTON, GEORGE - Rutgers University; Hoelmer, Kim; Kaser, Joseph; KRAWCZYK, GREG - Pennsylvania State University; KUHAR, THOMAS - Virginia Tech; Ludwick, Dalton; Morrison Iii, William; PARK, YONG-LAK - West Virginia University; POLK, DEAN - Rutgers University; RICE, KEVIN - Virginia Tech; SHREWSBURY, PAULA - University Of Maryland; WATERWORTH, REBECCA - University Of Maryland; Weber, Donald; Leskey, Tracy; NIELSEN, ANNE - Rutgers University

Submitted to: Environmental Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/24/2026
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is a landscape-level invasive species. In this two-year study, we assessed how landscape features, BMSB abundance, and natural enemy presence were related at four sites in West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. We found that row crops offer more potential for classical and augmentative biological control programs, while orchard crops will require habitat improvement to increase the likelihood of impacts against BMSB.

Technical Abstract: This paper presents the results of a two-year study examining how abundance of arthropod natural enemies of the invasive brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) are impacted by H. halys abundance and by land use in agricultural systems in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Abundance of H. halys and its natural enemies was recorded in mixed use agricultural landscapes, and we modeled relationships between the natural enemies, H. halys and local land uses. We found that all 13 taxa (orders or families) of natural enemies examined were significantly impacted by some measure of H. halys abundance, with positive relationships being found for all but one of these taxa. All natural enemy taxa were impacted by one or more types of land use, and each land use impacted the abundance of one or more taxon. Soybean fields had the highest ratio of positive to negative impacts on taxa of any land use, including having a positive impact on the parasitoid family Scelionidae, members of which exert substantial control of H. halys in its native range. Peach cropping had the highest ratio of negative to positive impacts. Surprisingly, semi-natural land uses had an inconsistent effect, resulting in an equal number of positive and negative impacts on taxa. These findings show that soybean and other herbaceous crops in the studied region may be suitable for classical and augmentative biological control programs for H. halys, while peaches and other orchard crops may require habitat improvement for such measures to be effective.