Parasitic wasps released in orchards to control crop-eating stink bug

A trial in Italy deployed a native wasp that lays eggs inside the eggs of the brown marmorated stink bug, an invasive pest that feeds on apples and other crops

By Gary Hartley

Boosting the numbers of a tiny parasitic wasp could help control the brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys), an invasive pest threatening a range of crops including apples, cherries and corn.

In the first large-scale European field trial of a biological control against H. halys, mass releases of the wasp (Anastatus bifasciatus) in parts of northern Italy increased parasitism of the bug’s eggs. The wasp, which is native to Europe, lays its eggs inside the eggs of the pest, and their young develop by feeding …