The brown stink bug, Euschistus servus (Say) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is an economic pest of pecan, Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch (Juglandaceae), and other agronomic crops across the southeastern United States. The efficacy of many insecticides against E. servus attacking pecan is not well documented even though the label for many of these insecticides may indicate one or more stink bug species as targets. Thus, we assayed various insecticides, labeled for application to pecan, to determine efficacy against E. servus. Insecticides were applied to pecan limb terminals with nut clusters in orchards in Georgia and Texas during 2009 and 2010. Treated limb terminals were cut from the tree and taken to the laboratory 1, 4, and 7 d after treatment. Treated nuts or limb terminals (i.e., nuts and foliage) were placed individually in cups or cylinder cages, respectively, and adult E. servus then placed into these containers. Mortality and moribundity of E. servus were recorded at 24, 48, or 72 h in addition to rating feces production at 72 h in some trials. Results consistently indicate that bifenthrin provided greater control of adult E. servus for a longer time after application than other products, including the organophosphate chlorpyrifos. Aside from bifenthrin also affecting the feces rating, the only other treatment that reduced feces production compared with untreated nuts was λ-cyhalothrin thiamethoxam.

Panel traps baited with prionic acid pheromone lures were effective in monitoring adult male Prionus imbricornis (L.) and Prionus laticolis (Drury) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) beetles in commercial pecan, Carya illinoensis (Wangenheim) K.Koch, orchards in southern Georgia and northern Florida. Pheromone lures with 30 mg of prionic acid trapped beetles for 6 to 7 weeks in the field. A soil surface application of chlorpyrifos solution at a concentration 1.25 ml/L and 0.6 L/m² had an efficacy of 92% against adult male beetles and persisted for 3 weeks. A matrix of lures made from 30-mg prionic acid–treated Isomate CP plastic-coated wire at 250 lures/ha prevented pheromone-baited panel traps from attracting male P. imbricornis beetles. One deployment of the matrix of lures prevented sentinel traps from collecting beetles for the entire 6-week flight period. The addition of LED lights to the pheromone-baited panel trap significantly increased the number of P. imbricornis male beetles trapped per trap per night by 8%.

Heortia vitessoides Moore (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) is a pest of the evergreen tree Aquilaria sinensis (Loureiro) Sprenger that is endemic to China and is the source of agarwood, a valuable fragrant wood used for traditional Chinese medicinal and incense industries. Aquilaria sinensis is endangered due to habitat loss and other factors. Twenty-one double-choice feeding bioassays were conducted to assess the response to and preference of H. vitessoides larvae to leaves collected from different A. sinensis plants showing varying degrees of larval feeding damage in the wild. Survivorship of larvae placed in the choice arenas exceeded 85% in all but two of the choice tests. Larvae also tended to aggregate and feed on one of the leaves in the choice test rather than being evenly disbursed on the two choices. Larval aggregation and feeding on leaves collected from a tree with <10% foliar damage while surrounding trees exhibited >90% damage were significantly lower in all double-choice tests conducted with that tree. Furthermore, aggregation and/or feeding on leaves removed from another tree with no damage due to the natural infestation of A. sinensis were significantly less in all but three double-choice assays. These results indicate that aggregation and feeding behavior of the gregarious H. vitessoides larvae may be influenced by the source of the leaves and that there may some levels of plant resistance among the various geographic sources of the tree.

The rice water weevil, Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuschel, is the most widely distributed and destructive insect pest of rice, Oryza sativa L., in the United States. The objective of this study was to determine overall damage levels of rice water weevils in Florida rice fields. Fifty rice fields were sampled over 2 yr for adult foliar damage. These damage data were used as the criteria for determining when control measures are justified. Although the weevils were widespread in Florida rice fields, damage levels at which control is required occurred in only 2% of fields sampled. An increase in adult feeding damage was observed as the rice season progressed. And, there was a significant correlation of feeding damage among fields within a paddy. These data suggest that Florida rice growers may not have to sample all fields in a paddy to estimate weevil damage in the paddy.

The demand for effective management of the brown stink bug, Euschistus servus (Say), in corn and other crops has been increasing in recent years. To identify when and where the stink bugs are most likely to occur for targeted insecticide application, diurnal activities of stink bugs in and near the fields of tasseling corn plants were monitored using pheromone traps. Trap capture of the brown stink bugs in the corn field showed that the number of females was greater at corn field edges than in the interior, but there was no difference in male capture between the edge and interior. Stink bug dispersal within corn fields was further monitored using a mark–release–recapture technique, but the technique was not effective because only one of 158 marked individuals was recovered in the pheromone trap. To further understand the movement pattern among host plants, brown stink bugs were monitored continuously for 6 d near the tasseling corn fields using the pheromone traps. The number of females caught in pheromone traps near the corn fields in early mornings and evenings was greater than in the midafternoon. Within each sampling time across the 6-d monitoring period, total number and number of each sex caught in early mornings were greater on the first 2 d when compared to the remaining 4-d monitoring period. The implications of the findings for brown stink bug management are discussed.

Adult Empoasca fabae (Harris) (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) were monitored at three locations within four alfalfa fields (edge of field to 40 m into field) from mid-April to June and Empoasca spp. activity from adjacent tree and shrub species until July. Similar numbers of Empoasca spp. adults were collected from sticky traps placed on tree and shrub species in the four border areas. In three of the four fields examined, significantly more E. fabae were found at the edges of the alfalfa fields closest to the trees than at 40 m from the edge of the field during the first week of May. In subsequent samples, there was no difference in the distribution of E. fabae in the alfalfa fields (except Field 2, where there were more E. fabae near the field edge for the duration of the study). Based upon this study, Empoasca spp. (primarily E. fabae) are colonizing alfalfa fields from the field margins to the interior in early spring and may be using adjacent woody habitats (including Gleditsia, Prunus, Ulmus, Tilia, and Quercus spp.) as a refuge when alfalfa is unsuitable.