Help Find the Stink Bug
AUGUSTA –
Entomologists at the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
(DACF) are seeking public assistance locating the brown marmorated sting bug
(BMSB). Recent posts to the DACF’s Maine Bug Watch Facebook page have state
officials interested in the prevalence of the BMSB in Maine. The bug is a major
agricultural pest in other states and has caused severe economic damage to a
number of crops in the mid-Atlantic states.
To help determine how widespread the brown marmorated stink bug is in Maine, and the
risk posed to Maine agricultural crops, the Department is asking residents to
report sightings of this pest through an online report form: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ME2017BMSB.
A photo is required to verify the identity of the bug (there are other bugs
that look like it), or bugs can be captured and frozen, with an email report
sent to bugwatchme.agr@maine.gov
Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
Originally
from Asia, the brown marmorated stink bug was accidentally introduced into the
mid-Atlantic region of the United States in the late 1990s. It has since spread
to 44 states. Like other familiar home invaders, the Asian multicolored lady
beetle and the western conifer seed bug, BMSBs usually enter structures around
early fall to seek a safe place to overwinter. In many states south of Maine,
the numbers of stink bugs entering homes can be startlingly large. With the
range of the brown marmorated stink bug expanding northward and westward, it is
not unreasonable to expect that many Mainers will start to see large numbers of
this bug.
As a home
invader, the brown marmorated stink bug is merely a nuisance. The bug will not
harm people, pets, or structures. In neighboring New
Hampshire, where it has been an acknowledged nuisance pest for 3-4 years,
control efforts have been recommended on an orchard crop this year for the
first time.
For more
information about the brown marmorated stink bug, and what you can do
to control it, go to: www.stopbmsb.org
 
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