Back to results

Virginia Tech

Risk Assessment and Improving Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Stål), Halyomorpha halys, Sampling in Virginia Soybean Systems

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), Halyomorpha halys (Stål), has become an important pest of soybean in the Mid-Atlantic US. To assess the influence of tree borders on BMSB infestations in soybean, twelve fields were sampled weekly using five 3-min visual counts of BMSB on tree of heaven (TOH) (Ailanthus altissima) and other host trees along a wooded border, on the adjacent soybean edge, 15 m and 30 m into the soybean field. At all locations, BMSB densities increased on TOH wooded borders in July, then, gradually moved into adjacent soybean borders later in the summer. BMSB did not move far from the field edge, with approximately half as many bugs being present at 15 m into the field and very few being detected 30 m into the field. These results validate the use of border sprays for BMSB control in soybean. Additional studies conducted in 2013 and 2014 compared a visual plant inspection method with a standard sweep net strategy for sampling BMSB. Overall, the two methods were highly correlated with a correlation coefficient of R=0.83. Visual inspection appears to be an effective method for assessing BMSB populations in soybean. One of the major factors affecting the distribution and establishment of invasive species is climate. The CLIMEX modeling software uses climatic and biological factors of species to predict the geographic risk for pest outbreaks. A climate simulation model was run with CLIMEX to determine the potential distribution of BMSB in Virginia based on temperature. To develop a more accurate model, factors like resource availability and source population would need to be considered.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science in Life Sciences
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Entomology
Department dc:contributor.department
Entomology
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2016

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Aigner, Benjamin L.
Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Herbert, D. Ames Jr.
  • Brewster, Carlyle C.
Committee member dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Kuhar, Thomas P.

Subjects

dc:subject × 6

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:8991
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/82742

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Aigner, Benjamin L.. Risk Assessment and Improving Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Stål), Halyomorpha halys, Sampling in Virginia Soybean Systems. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/82742