Tis’ the Season! According to a pest model for this region, the summer generation of brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) adults start appearing this week. This pest is very mobile, and will move into fall crops readily. I caught a glimpse of an egg mass in sweet corn today (photo below), and nymphs are expected to peak within the next few days.

Bell pepper, sweet corn, and tomato are all considered desirable hosts. Symptoms include sunken kernels, whitening on fruits, and spongy tissue. Rather than re-invent the wheel, I decided to direct you to some GREAT resources (see list below) for BMSB ID and management in vegetables.

FOR MORE INFO:

Wiman lab page – Oregon State University – Identification, monitoring efforts, and resource list

Neilsen et al., 2008 – Rutgers University – Developmental details

BMSB info for vegetable growers – great photos of injury, explanation of life cycle, etc.