Greenhouse study to determine the host range of the kudzu bug, Megacopta cribraria (Heteroptera: Plataspidae)

Authors

  • Julio Medal Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, Gainesville, Florida 32608, USA
  • Susan Halbert Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, Gainesville, Florida 32608, USA
  • Andrew Santa Cruz Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, Gainesville, Florida 32608, USA
  • Trevor Smith Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, Gainesville, Florida 32608, USA
  • Bobbie Jo Davis Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, Gainesville, Florida 32608, USA

Keywords:

bean plataspid, Florida, invasive pest

Abstract

Field-collected adult kudzu bugs, Megacopta cribraria (F.) (Heteroptera: Plataspidae), were exposed over a 5 to 6 wk period to 21 potted plant species in a greenhouse. Egg masses were deposited and nymphs completed development to the adult stage on kudzu, soybean, alfalfa, white clover, white sweet clover, red clover, perennial peanut, and American joint vetch. However, corn, sorghum, tomato, bell pepper, Johnsongrass, perennial ryegrass, partridge pea, garden pea, rattlepods, stylo, crimson clover, hairy indigo, and Florida beggarweed were not utilized by the kudzu bug as reproductive hosts. Implications and potential damage to Florida commercial crops and forages are reviewed.

 

Sumario

Adultos colectados en el campo de la chinche hedionda conocida como ‘kudzu bug’, Megacopta cribraria (F.) (Heteroptera: Plataspidae) fueron expuestos durante un periodo de 5-6 semanas a 21 especies de plantas creciendo en macetas en un invernadero. Las masas de huevos fueron depositadas y las ninfas completaron su desarrollo a estado adulto en kudzu, soya, alfalfa, trébol blanco, trébol dulce blanco, trébol rojo, maní perenne, y trébol americano. Sin embargo, las plantas de maíz, sorgo, tomate, pimentón dulce, grama Johnson, grama de centeno perenne, guisante ‘partridge’, crotalaria, stylo común, trébol encarnado, ‘Indogofera hirsuta’, y desmodium no fueron utilizadas como hospederos reproductivos por la chinche hedionda del kudzu. Las implicaciones y daños potenciales a cultivos comerciales y plantas forrajeras en la Florida son revisadas.

 

View this article in BioOne

Author Biographies

Julio Medal, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, Gainesville, Florida 32608, USA

Methods Development and Biological Control

 

Susan Halbert, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, Gainesville, Florida 32608, USA

Biological Scientist, FDACS-DPI

Andrew Santa Cruz, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, Gainesville, Florida 32608, USA

Lab. Tech., FDACS-DPI

Trevor Smith, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, Gainesville, Florida 32608, USA

FDACS-DPI Director

Bobbie Jo Davis, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry, Gainesville, Florida 32608, USA

FDACS-DPI, Methods Development and Biological Control, Interim Bureau Chief

Downloads

Published

2016-03-29

Issue

Vol. 99, No. 2 (June 2016)

Section

Scientific Notes

License

Copyright for any article published in Florida Entomologist is held by the author(s) of the article. Florida Entomologist is an open access journal. Florida Entomologist follows terms of the Creative Commons, Attribution Non-Commercial License (cc by-nc). By submitting and publishing articles in Florida Entomologist, authors grant the FOJ and Florida Entomologist's host institutions permission to make the article available through Internet posting and electronic dissemination, and to otherwise archive the information contained both electronically and in a hard printed version. When used, information and images obtained from articles must be referenced and cited appropriately. Articles may be reproduced for personal, educational, or archival purposes, or any non-commercial use. Permission should be sought from the author(s) for multiple, non-commercial reproduction. Written permission from the author(s) is required for any commercial reproduction.