Evaluating potential trap crops for managing leaffooted (Hemiptera: Coreidae) and phytophagous stink bug (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) species in peaches

Abstract

The leaffooted bug (Leptoglossus spp.) and phytophagous stink bug species (Euschistus spp., Nezara viridula, Chinavia hilare) are the major hemipteran pests of fruit, vegetable, and grain crops in Alabama and other parts of the southeastern U.S.A. The present study evaluated six winter host crops (hairy vetch, oats, rye, triticale, wheat and winter peas) and six summer host crops (buckwheat, brown top millet, grain sorghum, southern pea, pearl millet and sunflower) as potential trap crops for leaffooted and stink bugs in peaches from 2011 to 2013 in Alabama. Experimental plots were arranged around a mature peach orchard in a randomized complete block design, and insect densities, as well as host plant phenology, were recorded at weekly intervals from March to May and July to August each year. Wheat and oats attracted a significantly higher number of target insects than any other treatments evaluated in the winter trials. Sunflower, pearl millet and sorghum recorded a significantly higher number of insects than any other host crops evaluated in the summer. When the insects sampled were totalled across the season, leaffooted bugs (Leptoglossus phyllopus) dominated the pest complex (>70%), followed by brown stink bugs (mainly Euchistus servus Dallas). Target insects colonized the hosts mainly during the reproductive phase (including flowering and seed development) until plant senescence. The results obtained in the present study suggests that a combination of wheat and oats may be used to detect the early presence of leaffooted and stink bugs in the spring, whereas sunflower, pearl millet and sorghum could be utilized during summer to detect and attract colonizing populations away from peach orchards.