Evaluation of pheromone-baited traps for monitoring and management of nuisance pest problems associated with the invasive brown marmorated stink bug

Abstract: The brown marmorated stink bug, or Halyomorpha halys (Stål), is an invasive species from southeast Asia, and has caused extensive agricultural damage in North America and Europe. Pheromone-based technology has been developed over the past 10 years, and when combined with appropriate traps, is highly effective at monitoring the species from April to October. This species also causes enormous nuisance issues for homeowners, ports, and the shipping industry when adults overwinter in anthropogenic structures in the fall, and then emerge in the spring. It was unknown whether this same pheromone technology in similar but smaller traps was effective at monitoring and/or managing H. halys in the winter (diapause) and early spring (post-diapause) periods of the year (roughly January to June) inside anthropogenic structures. This report summarizes two years of research examining the ability of pheromone-baited small pyramid traps to monitor and manage H. halys nuisance issues in buildings in the mid-Atlantic US.