2007 Annual Report
1a.Objectives (from AD-416)
Applied and basic research is needed to develop strategies to monitor and suppress these bugs, and our overall objective is to devise means to manage stink bugs pests of these crops.
1b.Approach (from AD-416)
Funding provided to ARS/CAIBL will facilitate ongoing research on techniques to monitor and manipulate stink bugs under Project Plan 1275-2200-234-00D, “Chemical signals for managing insects.” Biological material supplied to Monsanto by ARS/CAIBL, and technical information regarding stink bug rearing, ecology and physiology, will allow this company to study insecticidal and/or transgenic means to address pest shifts resulting from adoption of genetically-transformed crops.
3.Progress Report
This report serves to document research conducted under a trust fund agreement between ARS and Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Missouri. Additional details of research can be found in the report for the parent project 1275-22000-234-00D, “Chemical Signals for Managing Insects”. The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is a newly invasive species in the eastern U.S. that is rapidly spreading from the original point of establishment in Allentown, Pennsylvania. In its native range, the BMSB is reportedly attracted to a male-produced chemical of another stink bug common in eastern Asia. This compound was field-tested in Maryland to monitor the spread of the BMSB, and in 2006 nearly 2000 BMSBs were trapped. These findings will be useful to scientists and pest managers specifically interested in tracking and controlling the BMSB, and to those scientists trying to control other kinds of stink bugs that damage North American crops. The ADODR communicated with the collaborators by numerous e-mails and telephone calls.
|