The invasive skunk of the insect world has been found in four counties in Michigan.
Here are the counties where the Brown marmorated stink bug has been found:
- Berrien
- Eaton
- Genesee
- Ingham
If the bug feels threatened, or if you squish it, this stink bug... stinks.
But the damage it can do to crops is what has officials in Michigan worried.
The PSU Department of Entomology says the Brown marmorated stink bug damages fruit and vegetable crops by sucking plant fluids through its beak.
A piece in lansingnoise.com estimated the damage it could do:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture late last year looked at the potential damage to crops. Topping the list was the country's $2.2 billion apple industry. Michigan's share is $115 million worth, or 590 million pounds of apples harvested each year. "I have these growers telling me that they fear this might be the worst pest in a generation for orchards," said Denise Donohue, executive director of the Michigan Apple Committee, which represents the state's apple industry.
The bug has proven it can resist pesticides, so what's to be done?
Sabri Ben-Achour filed a report for NPR on how some researchers are looking into using foreign wasps to fight the bug:
Can wasps squash the stink bug plague?
Trissolcus wasps are from China, Japan and Korea. The same place where the invasive stink bug came from. The wasps are natural enemies of the Brown marmorated stink bug, so researchers want to know if they can release them in the U.S. without harming other native stink bugs that are beneficial.
The researchers say it will take them three years to find out. In the meantime, some farmers will continue to try to fight the bug with pesticides - Ben-Achour reports some farmers are asking the EPA to relax pesticide regulations.
