SEMIOCHEMICALLY BASED MONITORING OF THE INVASION OF THE BROWN MARMORATED STINK BUG AND UNEXPECTED ATTRACTION OF THE NATIVE GREEN STINK BUG (HETEROPTERA: PENTATOMIDAE) IN MARYLAND

The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stal) (Pentatomidae), is a newly invasive species in the eastern U. S. that is rapidly expanding its range from the original point of establishment in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Although an attractant pheromone has yet to be identified for H. halys, in its native Asian range the insect is cross-attracted to the pheromone of another pentatomid Plautia stali Scott whose males produce methyl (E,E,Z)-2,4,6-decatrienoate. Previous tests of methyl 2,4,6-decatrienoate isomers in the U. S. verified that H. halys is highly attracted to methyl (EEZ)-2,4,6-decatrienoate, and that the native green stink bug, Acrosternum hilare (Say), also is attracted to this compound. Using traps baited with methyl 2,4,6-decatrienoates and the reported pheromone of A. hilare (trans- and cis-(Z)-alpha-bisabolene epoxides), we monitored populations of the brown marmorated and green stink bugs at the Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, Maryland, for the 2004-2008 growing seasons. Over this time period, the H. halys population rose from being undetectable in 2004 to becoming much more abundantly trapped than the native A. hilare. Furthermore, A. hilare was significantly more attracted to methyl (E,E,Z)-2,4,6-decatrienoate than the blend of bisabolene epoxides reported as its pheromone. Supplemental material online at http://www.fcla.edu/FlaEnt/fe923.htm#lnfoLink1