Browsing by Author "Aigner, John D."

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    Biology and Management of Brown marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), in Agricultural and Urban Environments
    Aigner, John D. (Virginia Tech, 2016-04-29)
    Brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), is a crossover pest impacting agriculture and invading urban environments. Studies were conducted to better understand the management of the bug through its physiology, behavior and susceptibility to insecticidal intervention. Halyomopha halys exhibit great variability in overwintering site selection with choices including manmade structures and tree bark. Because of these diverse sites, the bug must have the ability to withstand varying conditions throughout the overwintering cycle. We were able to determine that H. halys is chill intolerant and capable of adapting its tolerance to temperatures by season, sex, and location of acclimation. The mean supercooling point (± SEM) in the winter in Minnesota was -17.06°C ± 0.13° and in Virginia was -13.90°C ± 0.09°. Laboratory experiments conducted in Blacksburg, VA were able to determine baseline lethal high temperatures over time against H. halys adults. To achieve 100% mortality, temperatures fell between 45°C and 50°C, 40°C and 45°C, and 42°C and 45°C, over 15-min, 1-h, and 4-h, respectively. Moving forward, we were able to utilize this information to develop heat treatment guidelines for export shipping cargo infested with overwintering H. halys. In a controlled field experiment, we determined that exposing the coldest areas of an infested vehicle to temperatures greater than 50°C for a minimum of 15 minutes resulted in 100% mortality of overwintering BMSB adults. In 2012 and 2013, citizen scientists were recruited through Virginia Cooperative Extension to assist in evaluating several in home light traps designed to help eradicate overwintering H. halys adults in homes. Over the course of the two year study, fourteen houses participated in the study with 72% of those houses having stink bug activity. It was found that the most effective trap was an aluminum foil pan trap. In 2013, the trap was 19 times more effective at catching stink bug adults than any other trap tested. In September of 2014, a near-field experiment was conducted to determine the residual efficacy of several recommended and labeled insecticides for treatment of homes against invading H. halys adults. This study used constructed window screen bags that were dipped in insecticide solution. After the initial treatment, bugs were exposed to the bags for 24h weekly, up to 54 days after treatment (DAT). It was determined that 2 DAT all insecticides had activity except for indoxacarb. All insecticides lost efficacy after 29 DAT except for lambda-cyhalothrin, beta-cyfluthrin, beta-cyfluthrin + imidacloprid, lambda-cyhalothrin + thiamethoxam, and dinotefuran, which had some measureable activity even after 40 DAT. Each of these insecticides contained a pyrethroid alone or in combination with a neonicotinoid. Laboratory bioassays were conducted to determine the LC50 values of clothianidin, dinotefuran, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam against H. halys nymphs using a systemic application method. Those LC50 values were found to be 0.077, 0.013, 0.068, and 0.018 ppm, respectively. Field experiments conducted in Virginia in 2012 and 2013 showed a significant reduction of stink bug damage using two soil applications of neonicotinoid insecticides in pepper and tomato. In North Carolina, a single drip irrigation application significantly reduced stink bug damage in 2012 and 2014 using dinotefuran or imidacloprid.
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    Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Infestations in Tree Borders and Subsequent Patterns of Abundance in Soybean Fields
    Aigner, Benjamin L.; Kuhar, Thomas P.; Herbert, D. Ames Jr.; Brewster, Carlyle C.; Hogue, J. W.; Aigner, John D. (Oxford University Press, 2017-04-01)
    The invasive brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Sta° l) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is an important pest of soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) in the Mid-Atlantic United States. In order to assess the influence of nonmanaged wooded borders on H. halys infestation patterns in soybean, 12 soybean fields in Orange and Madison Counties, VA, were sampled each week from July to October in 2013 or 2014 for H. halys. At each location, five 2-min visual counts of H. halys life stages were made on tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima Mill.) and other favorable host trees along a wooded border, on the adjacent soybean edge, 15 m into the soybean field, and 30 m into the field. Seasonal data showed a clear trend at all locations of H. halys densities building up on A. altissima-dominated wooded borders in July, then, gradually moving into adjacent soybean field edges later in the summer. Halyomorpha halys did not move far from the invading field edge, with approximately half as many bugs being present at 15 m into the field and very few being detected 30 m into the field. These results have implications for continued monitoring and management using field border sprays, particularly on edges adjacent to woods.
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    Cold Tolerance of Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Across Geographic and Temporal Scales
    Cira, Theresa M.; Venette, Robert C.; Aigner, John D.; Kuhar, Thomas P.; Mullins, Donald E.; Gabbert, Sandra E.; Hutchison, W. D. (2016-04)
    The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål), is native to eastern Asia and is presently invading North America. Little is known about the exposure to and effects of winter temperatures in newly invaded regions on H. halys. The overwintering habitats that this species utilizes vary greatly in their thermal buffering capacity. They naturally overwinter in aggregations beneath loose bark on trees and in cliff outcroppings, but will also commonly aggregate in buildings. Effects of cold temperatures such as mortality and freezing have yet to be quantified in the invading population. We report that H. halys is chill intolerant (i.e., dies before reaching its freezing point), and that the degree of cold tolerance of populations in North America differs by season, sex, and acclimation location. The mean winter supercooling point (+/- SEM) of individuals acclimated in Minnesota was -17.06A degrees C A +/- 0.13 and in Virginia was -13.90A degrees C A +/- 0.09. By using laboratory assays of lower lethal temperatures and ambient air temperature records, we accurately forecasted mortality for field experiments in Minnesota and Virginia. Temperature refugia provided by human-built structures are likely crucial for overwintering survival during atypically cold winters and possibly contribute to the northern geographic range expansion of this economically damaging insect in the temperate climates of North America.
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    Control of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug with Insecticide-Treated Window Screens
    Aigner, John D.; Mooneyham, Katlin; Kuhar, Thomas P. (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2016-01-26)
    Notes the effectiveness of certain insecticides in killing Brown Marmorated Stinkbugs.
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    Control of Brown Marmorated Stink Bug with Insecticide-Treated Window Screens
    Aigner, John D.; Mooneyham, Katlin; McCullough, Chris T.; Kuhar, Thomas P. (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2021-01-19)
    A bioassy was conducted to see if insecticide-treated window screens could be a useful tool in managing brown marmorated stink bug home invasions in the fall. Certain insecticide treated window screens had efficacy against brown marmorated stink bug for over a month.
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    Green Stink Bug
    Aigner, John D.; Kuhar, Thomas P.; Day, Eric R.; Kamminga, Katherine (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2014-04-11)
    This publication covers the physical and main features, plant needs, functions, care, and additional information for the Green Stink Bug, Chinavia halaris (formerly Acrosternum hilare) (Say).
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    Lethal High Temperature Extremes of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) and Efficacy of Commercial Heat Treatments for Control in Export Shipping Cargo
    Kuhar, Thomas P.; Aigner, John D. (2016-01-01)
    Since its accidental introduction into the U.S.A. in the mid-1990s, the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys Stål (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), has spread rapidly across North America and become an economically significant pest of tree fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and field crops (Leskey et al. 2012, Rice et al. 2014). Consequently, there has been tremendous interest in better understanding aspects of its biology. Knowledge on the effects of temperature on the bug’s biology is critical to developing ecological models (Nielsen et al. 2008), predicting range expansion (Zhu et al. 2012), and for potentially developing pest control tactics using controlled temperature (Hammond 2015). In two laboratory experiments, we determine the lethal high temperature extremes of H. halys and efficacy of commercial heat treatments for control of the bug in export shipping cargo.
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    Performance of Insecticides on Brown Marmorated Sting Bug on Vegetables
    Kuhar, Thomas P.; Doughty, Hélène; Kamminga, Katherine; Philips, Chris; Aigner, John D.; Wallingford, Anna K.; Wimer, Adam Francis; Lilliston, Logan; Aigner, Benjamin L.; Nottingham, Louis B.; Lohr, Ashley; Fread, Elizabeth; Jenrette, James (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2011)
    Lists the rankings of insecticides used in a series of experiments in terms of percentage of mortality for Brown Marmorated Stink Bug nymphs and adults.