Joanne Whalen, Extension IPM Specialist; jwhalen@udel.edu
Tracy Leskey (USDA/ARS) provided the following report: “It appears that the beginning of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) immigration and dispersal into commercial orchards has begun in earnest in both WV and MD. Crews out scouting reported large numbers of BMSB in managed peach trees. Not surprisingly, bugs were most dense in the peripheral zone of the plots bordering wild habitat, but not necessarily anywhere near structures. Estimates of bug density were in the vicinity of 3 bugs per tree in border rows, and feeding injury was very fresh but clearly evident.”
See the article titled ‘Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs Damaging Peaches and Apples in WV, NJ, MD and VA’ in WCU 19:9 for more information and photos of damaged fruit.