B.C. residents are being warned about some stinky bugs landing on their properties.
The Province of B.C. has issued a “pest alert” for the brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys), a native pest of Asia, which was first identified in North America in Pennsylvania in 2001.
“It is a very serious pest that feeds on more than 100 different plant species,” reads the pest alert. “In 2010, an estimated loss of $37 million due to brown marmorated stink bug feeding was reported by the apple industry in the Mid-Atlantic States. The stink bug is an excellent hitchhiker and can be moved in shipping containers, wood, packing material, cargo and vehicles. It is also a nuisance to homeowners as the adults aggregate on and in buildings while seeking warm overwintering sites.”
The brown marmorated stink bug was first detected in British Columbia in 2015 and is present at low levels in urban areas of Fraser Valley and Vancouver, Brentwood Bay on Vancouver Island and the Okanagan Valley, as of October 2017.
Adults may be confused with other native brown stink bugs and western conifer seed bugs, says the province.
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Adults overwinter inside buildings or in protected areas and emerge in early spring, says the warning. Each female can lay up to 400 eggs throughout the summer on host plants, resulting in overlapping nymphal stages.
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