Organic Solutions for Harlequin Bugs and Other Stink Bugs
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Organic Solutions for Harlequin Bugs and Other Stink Bugs A Factsheet from Toxic Free NC About Harlequin Bugs and S4nk Bugs The Harlequin bug is a type of s5nk bug that causes trouble for many gardeners in the Southeast. Other s5nk bug pests in North Carolina include the Green s5nk bug, Brown s5nk bug, and Southern green s5nk bug. All are pests of many crops, but they especially love plants of the brassica family. The brassicas include cabbage, collards, broccoli, mustard, turnips, and kale. During heavy outbreaks, or when all their favorites are gone, Harlequin bugs will eat other garden plants such as squash, okra, tomatoes, corn, beans, and tree fruits. Both adults and nymphs cause damage. They eat all parts of the plants, including stems, leaves, fruits, and seeds. They use piercing mouth parts to suck out plant juices. Damage on leaves and stems looks like uneven discolored spots around a hole. Young plants may wilt, turn brown, and die. Mature plants may survive but growth is slowed. Damage on fruits such as squash, tomatoes and okra appears as dark holes surrounded by bumps, pits, or white-yellowish spots. The lighter spots do not ripen to the same color as the rest of the fruit. Fruits may also dimple or grow in strange shapes. Iden4fying Harlequin Bugs and S4nk Bugs Adult s5nk bugs are about half an inch long and shield- shaped. Their colors range from dark brown, tan, to green. The Harlequin bug is black with orange, yellow and red markings. Nymphs are similar to adults but smaller and with a more rounded shape. Eggs are barrel-shaped. Eggs are laid in groups on stems and the undersides of leaves, and may be yellow, green, pink, or gray. [photo or illustra5on] It is important to note that not all s5nk bugs are pests. Some predatory s5nk bugs, such as the spined soldier bug, actually aOack other garden pests. They should be encouraged in the garden. The spined soldier bug looks similar to a brown s5nk bug, but has spikes standing out on its shoulders. Adult harlequin bug. Photo credit: Clemson University - USDA Coopera5ve Extension Slide Series Harlequin bug eggs. Photo credit: Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University
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Transcript of Organic Solutions for Harlequin Bugs and Other Stink Bugs
Organic Solutions for Harlequin Bugs and Other Stink Bugs
A Factsheet from Toxic Free NC
AboutHarlequinBugsandS4nkBugsTheHarlequinbugisatypeofs5nkbugthatcausestroubleformanygardenersintheSoutheast.Others5nkbugpestsinNorthCarolinaincludetheGreens5nkbug,Browns5nkbug,andSoutherngreens5nkbug.Allarepestsofmanycrops,buttheyespeciallyloveplantsofthebrassicafamily.Thebrassicasincludecabbage,collards,broccoli,mustard,turnips,andkale.Duringheavyoutbreaks,orwhenalltheirfavoritesaregone,Harlequinbugswilleatothergardenplantssuchassquash,okra,tomatoes,corn,beans,andtreefruits.Bothadultsandnymphscausedamage.Theyeatallpartsoftheplants,includingstems,leaves,fruits,andseeds.Theyusepiercingmouthpartstosuckoutplantjuices.Damageonleavesandstemslookslikeunevendiscoloredspotsaroundahole.Youngplantsmaywilt,turnbrown,anddie.Matureplantsmaysurvivebutgrowthisslowed.Damageonfruitssuchassquash,tomatoesandokraappearsasdarkholessurroundedbybumps,pits,orwhite-yellowishspots.Thelighterspotsdonotripentothesamecolorastherestofthefruit.Fruitsmayalsodimpleorgrowinstrangeshapes.Iden4fyingHarlequinBugsandS4nkBugsAdults5nkbugsareabouthalfaninchlongandshield-shaped.Theircolorsrangefromdarkbrown,tan,togreen.TheHarlequinbugisblackwithorange,yellowandredmarkings.Nymphsaresimilartoadultsbutsmallerandwithamoreroundedshape.Eggsarebarrel-shaped.Eggsarelaidingroupsonstemsandtheundersidesofleaves,andmaybeyellow,green,pink,orgray.[photoorillustra5on]Itisimportanttonotethatnotalls5nkbugsarepests.Somepredatorys5nkbugs,suchasthespinedsoldierbug,actuallyaOackothergardenpests.Theyshouldbeencouragedinthegarden.Thespinedsoldierbuglookssimilartoabrowns5nkbug,buthasspikesstandingoutonitsshoulders.
Adultharlequinbug.Photocredit:ClemsonUniversity-USDACoopera5veExtension
SlideSeries
Harlequinbugeggs.Photocredit:WhitneyCranshaw,ColoradoStateUniversity
LifeCycleS5nkbugadultsspendthewinterinoldplantsandothergardenliOer.Theycomeoutintheearlyspringtobeginlayingeggs.Inearlyspringeggstakeupto20daystohatch,butastheweatherwarmstheymayhatchinasfewas5days.Nymphsmatureintoadultsin5–8weeks.Popula5onstendtogrowthroughtheseason,geZngheaviestduringearlytomidfall.Therearetwotofourgenera5onsperyearinNorthCarolina,dependingonthespecies.Preven4on1)Growhealthyorganicplants.Strongplantscanhandlesomedamagefroms5nkbugsbeOerthanweak,strugglingplants.MakesurethatyourcropsaregeZngenoughsunlightandwater.Ensurethatthesoiliswell-drained,andrichinnutrientsandorganicmaOer.2)Growresistantvarie4es.SometypesofbrassicaplantsarenaturallyresistanttoHarlequinbugs.NCCoopera5veExtensionrecommends:Cabbage:CopenhagenMarket86,Headstart,SavoyPerfectDrumhead,Stein’sFlatDutch,EarlyJerseyWakefield.Collards:GreenGlaze.Cauliflower:EarlySnowballX,SnowballY.Radishes:RedDevil,WhiteIcicle,Globemaster,CherryBelle,Champion,RedPrince.3)Tillinlatefall.Tillingcroplecoversintothesoiloncecoldweatherhasarrivedcanreducethenumberofadults5nkbugswhosurvivethewinter.Thenfewercomebackoutthefollowingspring.4)Controlweedsinthegardenarea.S5nkbugsareaOractedbyweedyareasinornearthegarden.Weedsshouldnotbeallowedtospreadinthegarden.Weedyareasaroundthegardenshouldbemowedbeforespringplan5ngandregularlyacerthattokeeps5nkbugsfromhangingaround.5)Userowcovers.Keeps5nkbugsfromfindingyourcropbycoveringyourbrassicaplantswithalightweight“floa5ng”rowcoversuchasReemay.Thesematerials(asopposedtoplas5corheavierfabrics)letwaterandairthroughanddonotblockverymuchsunlight.Theycanbefoundatgardensupplystoresororderedfromseedcatalogs.Thecoverscanliedirectlyontheplants(theplantswilllicthecoverastheygrow),oryoucansupportthecoverswithwirehoops.Thetrickistokeeptheedgesofthecovers5ghtlyburiedorweightedsothatthes5nkbugscannotgetin.
Harlequinbugnymphanddamage.Photocredit:WhitneyCranshaw,ColoradoStateUniversity
Greens4nkbug.Photocredit:FrankPeairs,ColoradoStateUniversity
GeLngRidofHarlequinBugsandS4nkBugsWithoutToxicChemicals1)Scoutandhandpick.Scoutandhandpick.Handpickings5nkbugadults,nymphsandeggsearlyintheseasoncanreallyhelpyoucontrolthemlaterintheyear.Likewise,handpickinginthefallcancutdownthenumberofadults5nkbugsthatcomebackthefollowingseason.Scoutthegardenocenthroughouttheyear.Whenyoufinds5nkbugadults,nymphs,oreggclusters,crushthemwithyourfingers.Or,sinces5nkbugsreallydos5nkwhenyousquishthem,itmightbelesssmellytodropthemintoapailofsoapywater.2)Plantatrapcrop.Atrapcropisoneplantedtolurethes5nkbugawayfromyourmaincrop.Forinstance,ifyouhavehadaproblemwithHarlequinbugsonyourspringcabbage,nextyearplantmustardontheedgeofthegardenearlyintheseasontoluretheadultsastheycomeout.Later,killthe“trap”mustardcropalongwiththepestsbysealingthemalltogetherintoplas5cgarbagebagsandleavingtheminthesuntobakeforafewdays.Then,plantyourcabbageinanotherpartofthegarden.Butbeware–s5nkbugscanmovefast,somakesurethatyoudon’tjustscarethemoutofthetrapcropandintoanotherpartofthegarden!3)APractnaturalenemies.S5nkbugshavemanynaturalpredatorswhocanbeinvitedtohangaroundthegarden.WildflowersandherbswillaOractparasi5cfliesandwasps.Predatorssuchasbirds,toads,spiders,andprayingman5seswillmaketheirhomesinperennialherbandflowerbedsandsmallshrubsnearthegarden.4)Releasepredators.Minutepiratebugseats5nkbugeggsandnymphs,andprayingman5sescanaOackadults.Thesecanbeboughtandreleasedintothegarden.Lookforthemingardensupplycatalogs.5)Organicallyacceptableinsec4cides.Asalastresort,youmightchoosetoapplyleast-toxicinsec5cidesthatappearontheOrganicMaterialsReviewIns5tute’slistofproductsapprovedforCer5fiedOrganicfarms,suchasrotenone,pyrethrin,Neemoil,orinsec5cidalsoap.
Eventhoughthesespraysareapprovedfororganicfarms,theycanbehazardous,sobesuretofollowinstruc5onsonthelabelsverycarefully.Keepinmind,too,thattheseinsec5cidescankillpollinatorsandother“goodbugs”youwanttokeepinyourgarden.UseasliOleaspossible,andsprayonlyintheearlymorningorlateeveningwhenthe“goodbugs”arelessac5ve.Insec5cidalsoapcanburntheleavesofyourplants,sodonotspraythemindirectsunlightorwhentemperaturesareabove80°.Insec5cidesareusuallyonlyeffec5veinslowingsquashbugsdown,notstoppingthem.Spraysareusuallyonlyeffec5veinslowings5nkbugsdown,notstoppingthem.Adults5nkbugsandtheireggsareveryresistanttosprays.Sprayingshouldbedonesoonacerthefirsteggshatchandthenymphshavecomeout.Thespraysmustcomeintocontactwiththenymphstowork,sotrytocoverthewholeplant.Weeklyspraysmaybeneededsincenews5nkbugshatchallseasonlong.Obviously,even“organic”sprayscomewithrisksandproblems,sotrytheother5psherefirst,andyoumaybeabletoskipthespraysaltogether.
Greens4nkbugnymph.Photocredit:ClemsonUniversity-USDACoopera5ve
ExtensionSlideSeries
Spinedsoldierbug(i.e.thegoodguys–notethebigpointyshoulderpads!)
Photocredit:FrankPeairs,ColoradoStateUniversity
Thisfactsheetwaswri-enwiththeneedsofnon-commercialhome,schoolandcommunitygardenersinmind.Cer:fiedOrganicgrowers,orthoseseekingacer:fica:on,shouldcheckwiththeircer:fyingagencybeforeusingANYinsec:cide.Someorganicallyacceptableinsec:cidesareapprovedforuseinCer:fiedOrganicsystemsonlyagainstcertainpestsorincertainsitua:ons.
SourcesEllis,BarbaraandBradley,FernMarshall,editors.TheOrganicGardener'sHandbookofNaturalInsectandDiseaseControl:ACompleteProblem-SolvingGuidetoKeepingYourGardenandYardHealthyWithoutChemicals.RodalePress,1996.Flint,MaryLouise.PestsoftheGardenandSmallFarm:AGrower'sGuidetoUsingLessPes5cide,2ndEdi5on.UniversityofCaliforniaPress,1998.“HarlequinBugs.”InsectandRelatedPestsofVegetables.CenterforIntegratedPestManagement,NorthCarolinaStateUniversity,NCCoopera5veExtensionService.ViewedMarch,2012:[link]Bambara,StephenandCasey,Chris5ne.“NoRomanceinHarlequinBugInfesta5on.”NorthCarolinaPestNews,NorthCarolinaStateUniversityCollegeofAgriculture&LifeSciences,DepartmentsofEntomologyandPlantPathology,NCCoopera5veExtensionService.Volume19,Number17,August6,2004.ViewedMarch,2012:[link]“S5nkBugs.”CenterforIntegratedPestManagement,NorthCarolinaStateUniversity,NCCoopera5veExtensionService.ViewedMarch,2012:[link]Ipsan,AnneOe.2010.“HowtoManageS5nkBugs.”UniversityofMarylandExtension–WashingtonCounty.ViewedMarch,2012:[link]
