Wanted: dead

Brown marmorated stink bugs are back and they're definitely wanted--Virginia farmers want them dead. At a 2-hour public question and answer forum last Monday, researchers Dr. Tracy Leskey of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Dr. J. Christopher Bergh of Virginia Tech discussed how to eliminate the invasive Japanese bugs that caused $37 million worth of damage to apple growers in the mid-Atlantic states last year.

Nearly 150 people from around the state attended the forum, hosted by Congressman Frank Wolf at Woodbridge High School in Purcellville. Most attendees were farmers and homeowners over 50 looking for a simple way to get rid of the pests.

"We need a coordinated effort at all levels of government to respond to this growing problem," Wolf said.

The brown marmorated stink bug is easily differentiated from the native stink bug species by the marbled pattern on its back and white bands on its antennae. The pest is unique because it sucks the juice from an astonishing number of plants: peaches, tomatoes, garden vegetables, apples, grapes, and even maple bark. The bugs feed on the fruit, leaving dimples on the surface and larger, brown discoloration inside the fruit beneath the dimples. In Virginia last year, peach and apple growers were the hardest hit.

"It's very difficult to estimate crop losses, especially when some damage is not recognized until much later," Bergh said. "Not every grower is facing the same magnitude of damage, but we have no figure on total cost [for all crops]."

Rather than dying during the winter, the bugs invade houses and barns to find a warm place to hibernate. Both adults and nymphs feed on crops, and they can reproduce within commercial orchards throughout the entire growing season. The first generation matures in late June and produces the second generation in late August and early September.

Pesticides used to control the native stink bug population have been dismally ineffective, said Bergh, an associate professor of entomology at Virginia Tech. In lab studies, a portion of the stink bugs appeared to be dead after the chemicals were applied. Within a few days, a majority of the bugs recovered. To be lethal, the pesticides must directly contact the bugs; they have no residual effectiveness.

"We're making headway, but there's no silver bullet," Leskey, a USDA research entomologist, said.

Stink bug scams

Despite a lack of scientific solutions, Leskey pointed to a growing number of scams that claim to offer the stink bug solution. She referenced a site purportedly run by a company called Get Rid of Stink Bugs. The organization's website claims, "I have finally cracked the code to stink bug control and if you give me 7 minutes of your time I will tell you exactly how I got rid of stink bugs and how you can do it too, step by step."

For $24.95, Leskey purchased a manual she said was full of bogus information.

Similar sales pitches appear on a number of domains, including one that claims to be run by a person named Bill Campbell. That website, purportedly run by a company called Stink Bug Control Secrets Revealed, contains a number of disclaimers, including a refund promise and a statement that, "Results can obviously not be guaranteed."

In the disclaimer, the owner of the site claims the manual is owned by Sherman Publishing House, a company with no official website and no Better Business Bureau listing. Despite a promise to respond to emails within 48 hours, WORLDVirginia's requests for comment went unanswered.

Leskey said that accredited universities and the USDA were the best sources for reliable information.

"If somebody on the internet claims to have the answers, and is not affiliated with a reputable source, be wary," Leskey said. "We don't have the answer."

Looking for answers

Bergh, a Virginia Tech entomologist, said he has petitioned Virginia's agriculture department and the federal Environmental Protection Agency to allow farmers to use an insecticide currently not permitted in orchards to eliminate the stink bugs. If scientists are able to win a federal emergency exemption by August, fruit growers in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia could begin spraying with products containing dinotefuran before September and October, when extensive harm from the bugs is possible, Bergh said.

"We do not view approval of the product as a silver bullet," Bergh said. "It's another tool. A good tool, but it won't make or break the 2011 season."

Dinotefuran is an ingredient in two commercial insecticides, Venom from Valent BioSciences Corp., a unit of Japan's Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd., and Scorpion from Gowan Co. LLC of Yuma, Ariz. The EPA currently allows its use on vegetables, grapes and cotton, but it is used in Japan and other Asian countries to control brown marmorated stink bugs on a wider variety of crops, including orchard fruits.

The EPA allows such exemptions to the permitted uses of a pesticide if it determines that an emergency condition exists. The exemption lasts no longer than one year but applicants can seek additional approvals.

Even if the emergency exemption is granted, dinotefuran is just part of a potential defense, Bergh said. U.S. Agriculture Department scientists also are experimenting with Asian wasps that prey on stink bugs, but that potential solution might be years away. Scientists have tested a number of traps in varying shapes with varying stimuli. They tracked and filmed the bugs to figure out which baits were most alluring. Fruit growers in Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia will allow researchers to place traps baited with a stink bug attractant to monitor the numbers of insects throughout the growing season, said Leskey.

This year, five orchards in central and northern Virginia will also test the effectiveness of other permitted insecticides on stink bugs, Bergh said. "By the end of the 2011 season, we will know much more than we do now."

In the meantime, homeowners can try to eradicate the pests the old-fashioned way by sucking them up with a vacuum cleaner or flushing them down the toilet. "Every dead stink bug is one fewer," Leskey said.

The bug first began to cause noticeable damage to U.S. crops in 2008. In 2010, damage was severe in four states. Scientists said the insects have been spotted in 33 states and spreading.

For Virginia residents, this year's stink bug season is just beginning. "We're just getting started with the stink bug. He just said 'hello,'" said Bob Potts, a corn farmer from Lincoln, Va., who attended the seminar. "It's going to hurt some more than others."

Last season, Potts said his biggest problem was not with his crops but with trying to keep the bugs out of his 100-year-old farmhouse. "We live with 'em," Potts said. "Lots get flushed down the toilet."

The stink bugs were not available for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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