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New stink bug comes to Huntington

The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) has arrived in Huntington County.

One of these bugs was recently found in the county by a homeowner and then taken to the Huntington County Extension Office for identification.  The bug was confirmed as BMSB by the Purdue Pest and Diagnostic Lab.

The BMSB was initially found in Indiana in October 2010 at a location in Elkhart County.

The bug is a native of Japan, Korea and China and was first reported in the United States in Pennsylvania in 1998. It also has been found in other eastern states as well as Ohio and Kentucky.

The bug in its adult stage has the shape of a shield common to most stink bugs. It grows to 5/8 of an inch long and 3/8 inch wide. The upper body is mottled brown and gray with alternating light and dark bands on the edges of the abdomen.

Purdue Extension Entomologist Rick Foster explained that BMSB can be distinguished from other stink bugs by its antennae, which have two light bands on the last two segments.

It lays barrel-shaped, green eggs in clusters. Nymphs are oval with yellow, brown, black and red colors.

Entomologists from Purdue are anticipating, based on experience in the northeast United States, that this stink bug will become a pest in Indiana homes before it builds up numbers to become a serious crop pest.

As with the Asian lady beetle, Foster said homeowners should take steps that include caulking around windows and repairing screens to prevent invasion.

"Once the stink bugs are inside, they can be vacuumed up and disposed of," he said. "Homeowners should discard their vacuum cleaner bag immediately after use because the stink bugs will indeed stink when collected by the vacuum cleaner."

If homeowners use insecticides to keep the bug out, Foster advises using them on the exterior of homes, not indoors.

Some damage from BMSB in gardens was noted last summer in southern Indiana.    Clark County Extension Educator Dave Hynes diagnosed a problem with sweet corn.  He provided pictures of sweet corn damage just prior to harvest (www.btny.purdue.edu/pubs/vegcrop/VCH2013/VCH574.pdf ). The stink bugs fed right through the husks.

The most up-to-date information on this pest can be found on a website dedicated to disseminating research and extension updates as they happen: www.stopbmsb.org/> .

Ed Farris is the agriculture and natural resource educator with the Huntington County office of Purdue Extension. He can be reached at 358-4826.