They haven’t yet made it onto the list of California’s Most Wanted Insect Pests, but these hard-bodied, smelly insects have caused increasing damage to crops in recent years. First we saw the big bad Bagrada bug that wreaked havoc on organic brassica crops across California in 2015 and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in crop losses. A related pest, the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, has spread to 16 California counties since becoming a nuisance in the Sacramento area in 2013. It is now a harmful pest in almond groves. This session will present information on the range of invasive stink bugs, the conditions that support stink bug populations, and steps that growers can take to protect their crops from stink bugs.
*Approved for 1.5 DPR CE hours for Pest Control Advisors
