Customer LoginMarch 14th, 2011 10:12 am ET
Maryland might have a solution…will Boston follow?
The brown marmorated stink bug will soon meet it’s arch rival in the form of an Asian wasp. The wasps are being raised in quarantine in a Delaware laboratory.
The Stink Bug…AKA the Western Conifer Seed
The wasps are said to be very efficient at hunting down and injecting their offspring into stink bugs. The larvae from wasps consumes stink bugs from the inside out. When the bugs reach maturation, they chew their way out, reproduce and continue their hunt for more stink bug eggs.
According to Kim Hoelmer, a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture scientist, “these Asian wasps will destroy up to 80% of the stink bug population.” Stink bugs are not a direct threat to humans, but they represent an enormous threat to vegetable farms and orchards. The threat to farms and orchards can potentially drive up food prices which comes at the time when the nation is slowly creeping out of a recession.
The stink bug population in Maryland has been steadily rising for the past five years. In the coming season, it is a strong possibility that stink bugs will invade the state in record numbers. According to University of Maryland entomologist Michael Raupp, “If 1 in 10 people had stink bugs in 2010, 9 in 10 people will have them in 2011.”. For more information about this project logon to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture website.
Massachusetts has similar issues with Stink Bugs, so should we be looking at alternative ways to control them? For now your best bet is to call a qualified Pest Control Professional, like A1 Exterminators at 1-800-525-4825 (1-800-499-5866 for Cape Cod).
Sources:
Chanell Whitfield
Baltimore Health News Examiner