Peach is one of the first food crops damaged in spring by the brown stink bugs. During most years, they hibernate during the winter and then emerge in spring to arrive in peach orchards during the late bloom and shuck split stage as fruit begin to form. However, during mild years, they may remain active throughout the winter feeding on winter annual weeds and other hosts.
Under drought conditions, the bugs may attack fruit in much higher numbers. In peaches, stink bugs are also called catfacing insects because, after the tissue is injured, the surrounding, healthy plant tissue continues to grow, resulting in a scar that resembles a cat's face. In pecans, they are termed kernel feeding insects because they injure the nut kernels by feeding, with most injury occurring in late season.
McPherson and McPherson state that E. servus occurs throughout North America with two subspecies. While E. s. servus (Say) occurs throughout the southeastern U.S. from Florida through Louisiana to California, E. s. euschistoides (Voltenhoven) occurs across Canada and the northern part of the U.S.
The fourth and fifth antennal segments are darker in color. The ventral surface usually has a pinkish tinge. Cheeks are large, passing the clypeus in length and more pointed. The humeral angles of the pronotum are rounded. The body length varies from 10 to 15 mm for adults.
Eggs: The eggs are yellowish-translucent, but their color starts turning toward a light pink before hatching.
Nymphs: The nymphs develop through five instars that require ~29 days for development. They resemble adults but are smaller and oval. They are usually pale green.
Each female oviposits about 18 egg masses, averaging 60 eggs, over a period of >100 days. Approximately four to five weeks are required from hatching to adult emergence. Euschistus servus have as many as four to five or more generations per year in Florida. Adults are strong fliers and will readily move between weeds and other alternate hosts.
Brown stink bugs are found on a variety of hosts, such as shrubs, vines, many broadleaf weeds, especially legumes, as well as cultivated crops such as corn, soybean, sorghum, okra, millet, snap beans, peas and cotton.
Penetration by the mouthparts can cause physical damage. A combination of mechanical and chemical damage to the growing point of the plant may be responsible for the injury and symptoms seen in the field. The degree of damage depends on the developmental stage of the plant when it is attacked.
Brown stink bug feeding causes three main types of damage to grains: they may kill small seedlings, produce stunted plants or cause "suckering", which is the production of tillers from the base of damaged plants. Tillering is considered the most dramatic symptom because it first appears 10 days or so after the real damage was caused. E. servus can reduce grain yields in several ways, e.g., stand reduction caused by feeding and killing small seedlings.
Brown stink bug feeding affects surviving plants by inhibiting development of root mass and making plants more susceptible to other stress factors such as pathogens or attack by other insects. Tillered plants may produce little if any grain and if they survive, they may be considered as weeds, competing for water and nutrients with healthy plants.
Stink bugs may be controlled with insecticides, but many crops have specific action thresholds that should be observed to provide more economical management. Plus, stink bugs are relatively tolerant to most insecticides making suppression difficult. Practices that eliminate seed heads and broadleaf weeds help minimize stink bug populations.
Insect Management Guide for fruit trees
Insect Management Guide for vegetables
Insect Management Guide for field crops
Insect Management Guide for ornamentals
Monitoring can be done by direct tree examinations and fruit damage counts. Beating tray sampling, sweep sampling and using the Florida Stink Bug Trap with the aggregation pheromone are also ways of monitoring and capturing them. Trap crops of triticale, buckwheat, sorghum, millet and sunflower may be grown on the exterior of gardens, orchards and other types of production areas to intercept the stink bugs before they enter the cash crop. Small growers may wish to grow the trap crops in large containers so that they can be easily moved to where they are needed.
Authors: Celina Gomez and Russell F Mizell III, University of Florida
Photographs: Herb Pilcher, USDA-ARS; Russell F. Mizell, III, University of Florida; and W. Louis Tedders
Project Coordinator: Thomas R. Fasulo, University of Florida
Publication Number: EENY-433
Publication Date: May 2008
Copyright 2008 University of Florida
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Department of Entomology and Nematology
Division of Plant Industry
Electronic Data Information Source
damaged nuts
adult
adult male - ventral view
adult female - ventral view
new egg mass
older egg mass
1st instar nymphs
2nd instar nymphs
3rd instar nymphs
4th instar nymph
5th instar nymph
nymph and adult
Florida stink bug trap
trap crops