Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is considered by most authorities to be the most damaging insect/bug in the world. Found in Europe, Africa’s, and Asia, this voracious agricultural pest is now present virtually everywhere except for Australia and New Zealand. The Brown Stink Bug lays eggs in batches of 1,000 to 2,000 with up to 10,000 being laid in a year. While the adult bugs have an average life of 1 – 2 the bug can also survive cold and hot conditions, even snow.
The Brown Stink Bug has been recorded on a large number of plants including most ornamentals and vegetables and leguminous cover crops may suffer extensively. The bark of citrus, papaw, rubber and cacao is also subject to attack.
The main quarantine risk lies in the introduction of the snail attached to crates, containers, plant material, machinery or motor vehicles. It can hide out of general sight and reach and can also be introduced in soil in the egg stage. Bugs in aestivation, which have drawn deep into their exo-skeleton, can lose 60% of their weight and consequently can be mistaken for dead specimens.
the 2019-2020 surveillance season in Australia commences 01.09.2019 and will finish 30.05.2020 – below are the target origin areas for this season.
Albania
Andorra
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Canada
Croatia
Czech Republic
France
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Italy
Kosovo
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Montenegro
Netherlands
North Macedonia
Romania
Russia
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Switzerland
Turkey
United States of America