Prevalence,damage, management and insecticide resistance of stink bug populations (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in commodity crops

1. Pest management of stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], corn (Zea mays L.) and cotton (Gossypium spp.) agroecosystems has become a major concern in several countries of the Americas.
2. In this review, we report an overview on geographical distribution, injury, damage and methods used to control (plant resistance mechanisms, biological control) the most important stink bugs in the Americas, with an emphasis on Brazil, the implications of the trend towards decreased susceptibility of stink bug populations to insecticides and the current difficulties of the management of these insect pests.
3. Currently, the Neotropical brown stink bug Euschistus heros (Fabricius) is less susceptible to organophosphate insecticides than in the past. A slight reduction in E. heros susceptibility to pyrethroids and, to a lesser extent, to neonicotinoids has also been observed. In addition, the green‐belly stink bug [Dichelops melacanthus (Dallas)] is more tolerant to the three classes of insecticides (neonicotinoids, organophosphates and pyrethroids) than E. heros.
4. Metabolic detoxification is involved in organophosphate, neonicotinoid and pyrethroid differences in susceptibility. Restricted availability of insecticides with different modes of action could favour the selection of resistant phenotypes in stink bug populations.

     

Differential induction of volatiles in rice plants by two stink bug species influence behaviour of conspecifics and their natural enemy Telenomus podisi

Tritrophic interactions mediated by semiochemicals have been intensively studied from the viewpoint of ecological relationships with Nearctic tritrophic organisms. However, there are few studies involving interactions with different herbivores on the same host plant in Neotropical systems. The objective of the current study was to investigate the effects of herbivory by two species of stink bugs (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) with the same feeding habit – Tibraca limbativentris Stål and Glyphepomis spinosa Campos & Grazia – on indirect and direct defence strategies of rice plants. The responses of each stink bug species (virgin and mated females) and of their main natural enemy, the egg parasitoid Telenomus podisi Ashmead (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae; mated females), to volatiles from undamaged and herbivore-damaged rice plants were evaluated using a Y-tube olfactometer. The results showed that rice plants responded differently to T. limbativentris or G. spinosa herbivory, enhancing the production of a different blend of volatile compounds, which reduced the attraction for conspecific stink bugs and elicited the foraging behaviour of T. podisi.