February 5 -11
It's hard to imagine that the creature pictured below didn't exist in North America until 1998 when it was accidentally released in Pennsylvania in a shipping crate from China for Japan, but since then it has spread to at least 40 states and counting. This creature is the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys), and they're now virtually everywhere.
Since coming to America, the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug has become a major agricultural pest - having been found to cause damage to several fruit crops including apples, peaches and citrus. The stink bug family (Pentatomidae), are "true-bugs", and they comprise one of largest families in the suborder Heteroptera (true bugs) with 220 species in 64 genera.
The name "stink bug" comes from a scent gland that is located in the abdomen, which is used as a defense mechanism that produces a pungent odor that predators find distasteful. One of key ways of separating the BMSB from other stink bugs is the white bands on the antennae.
Stink bugs overwinter as adults, often in dwelling (such as my house)!
Since coming to America, the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug has become a major agricultural pest - having been found to cause damage to several fruit crops including apples, peaches and citrus. The stink bug family (Pentatomidae), are "true-bugs", and they comprise one of largest families in the suborder Heteroptera (true bugs) with 220 species in 64 genera.
The name "stink bug" comes from a scent gland that is located in the abdomen, which is used as a defense mechanism that produces a pungent odor that predators find distasteful. One of key ways of separating the BMSB from other stink bugs is the white bands on the antennae.
Stink bugs overwinter as adults, often in dwelling (such as my house)!
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| Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys) |
Week six running total:
Birds: 16
Mammals: 1
Insects: 1
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