Soybean Damaging Kudzu Bug Inching Closer to Arkansas
Posted 28 March 2013. Plant Health Progress.
Source: University of Arkansas Press Release. www.uaex.edu
Lonoke, Arkansas (March 18, 2013)--The kudzu bug, an
insect that has caused up to 20 percent yield losses in some untreated
soybean fields in North Carolina, is inching its way nearer to Arkansas,
said Gus Lorenz, extension entomologist for the University of Arkansas
System Division of Agriculture.
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The kudzu bug is native to India and China and was first
found in the United States in 2009. It’s a tiny insect – just one-sixth
to one-quarter of an inch long and is olive green with brown speckles.
They waddle when they walk, but are excellent fliers.
“The kudzu bug has been a serious pest of soybeans in
Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Florida, Alabama and Tennessee has now
been found in Vicksburg, Miss.,” he said. “That’s too close for comfort
for us in Arkansas and the rest of the Mississippi Delta.
“It’s only a matter of time before the bug finds its way
to Arkansas,” Lorenz said. A map of its current distribution can be
found here: www.kudzubug.org/distribution_map.cfm.
Surveys done in 2012 along I-40 in Crittenden County;
U.S. 49 in Phillips County and Arkansas 159, U.S. 65 and U.S. 82 in
Ashley and Chicot counties indicated no bugs.
The bugs can overwinter in houses and other structures
and in early spring become active, seeking places to lay eggs in
emerging kudzu or soybean plants.
The bugs, both in the adult and nymph form, “gather in
large groups and suck sap from a host plant, weakening and stunting the
plant’s growth,” he said. “Severe infestations can cause the plant to
lose its leaves.” The insects can also reduce the number of soybean pods
per plant, reduce the number of beans per pod or reduce the size of the
beans in the pods.
The bugs are tricky to control. Lorenz said that any
treatment must be done carefully since treating for kudzu bugs can
interfere with beneficial insects and provide an opening for other pests
such as corn earworms, soybean loopers and armyworms.
Timing control methods is very important, he said. When
scouting for this pest, “we are suggesting a threshold of one immature
kudzu bug per sweep.”
Kudzu bugs are also a pest to homeowners, and can
congregate in large numbers in homes. Entomologists recommend vacuuming
the insects up and preventing them from releasing a noxious chemical
that can also stain home interiors. (www.kudzubug.org/docs/GAkudzubugalert2012.pdf).
For more information about controlling pests, contact your county extension agent, visit www.uaex.edu or visit Arkansascrops.com.
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