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Insect Fight Club: Stink Bug vs. Samurai Wasp

A samurai wasp
The samurai wasp is a primary candidate for biological control of brown marmorated stink bug. The actual size of the wasp is just 1-2 millimeters long. (Photo by Elijah Talamas, D3216-1).

A tiny parasitic wasp called the Trissolcus japonicus, also known as the samurai wasp, may be the solution to the major economic damage to fruit, vegetable, and field crops perpetrated by the invasive brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys).

Natural enemies to the stink bug back in their native Asia, samurai wasps love to detect and follow unique chemical trails left behind by these bugs to parasitize their eggs.  According to ARS scientists, this strong preference makes the samurai wasp an ideal way to naturally suppress brown marmorated stink bug populations here in the U.S. as well.

Want to learn more? Read "To Deal With The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, ARS Scientists Bring In Its Arch Enemy." 

 

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Organics