Behavioral patterns of the brown marmorated stink bug and their implications for monitoring programs
Creators: name: Cambridge, John Edwin
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2016

description: This disseration investigates the behavior and selected monitoring methods of the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stål)) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae).  The first chapter gives a comprehensive summary of the current and past research involving this insect and provides the basis for why the proceeding investigations were undertaken and how they added to the current body of knowledge about this important pest species.  Chapter 2 explores the relationship between the number of hours past sunrise at which timed visual observations are conducted for H. halys and the detectable number of individuals on peach trees.  The findings of this study show how the diel behavioral patterns of this insect cause large differences in the quantity observed at different times of the day (p&lt;0.05; repeated measures).  The variability of this metric associated with differences between observers is also investigated and shown to have a significant impact on the average number of H. halys seen per tree (p&lt;0.05; repeated measures).  Temperature was not found to be a useful indicator for estimating the number of visually observed H. halys (R2=0.0183; regression).  Chapter 3 investigates the movement of H. halys within and between peach trees over the course of the diel cycle.  The results indicate that nymphs of this species are most active from 7 to 10 hours past sunrise.  Nymphs are found more on fruit and branches during this time and a higher proportion of individuals are found on the interior of the tree (p&lt;0.05; loglinear model).  This chapter also discusses the percentage of newly seen individuals at each time of day and how the count of previously seen insects increases once the sun sets (p&lt;0.05; loglinear model).  These findings also show that low numbers of H. halys were found to move between trees.  Chapter 4 looks at H. halys attraction to various light sources. This study examined the difference in attractive pull resulting from alteration of the color and luminosity of a light source.  The data also shows how different nymphal instars and adult genders are affected differently by the presence of a light source.  The findings of this study support previous studies that white light is an attractive stimulus for insects but that reduced attraction can be observed at very low or high light intensities.  Chapter 5 decribes a study that examines H. halys distribution as it overwinters in urban structures.  This study found that this insect was observed more in the upper floors of the buildings investigated.  The findings of this study agree with the current ecological understanding of this species as H. halys is known to be an arboreal species in its natural habitat.  The results of this work are useful for making pest management decisions that aim to reduce diapausing populations within these types of structures. Chapter 6 looks at the feasibility of constructing and designing a tower-style black-light trap that has comparable catches to the industry standard model.  This project resulted in the development of blueprints for in-lab-fabrication of clear-fin black light tower traps which cost ~1/10 the price of the market standard.  The new trap caught equivalent quantities of insects (p&gt;0.05; repeated measures) and the method for testing comparability of the traps to one another by way of a paired-trap, multi-site, partial season capture analysis is explained and the results outlined to highlight the equivilant trap capture diversity and sample species counts. This disseration concludes with remarks in Chapter 7 that restate the major findings for each study and relate them to the field as a whole.