Characterization of Overwintering Sites of the Invasive Brown Marmorated Stink Bug in Natural Landscapes Using Human Surveyors and Detector Canines

Halyomorpha halys is an invasive species from Asia causing major economic losses in agricultural production in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Unlike other crop pests, H. halys is also well-known for nuisance problems in urban, suburban, and rural areas, as massive numbers of adults often invade human-made structures to overwinter inside protected environments. Research efforts have focused on populations in human-made structures while overwintering ecology of H. halys in natural landscapes is virtually unknown. We explored forested landscapes in the mid-Atlantic region to locate and characterize natural overwintering structures used by H. halys. We also evaluated the use of detector canines to locate overwintering H. halys to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of surveys. From these studies, we indentified shared characteristics of overwintering sites used by H. halys in natural landscapes. Overwintering H. halys were recovered from dry crevices in dead, standing trees with thick bark, particularly oak (Quercus spp.) and locust (Robinia spp.); these characteristics were shared by 11.8% of all dead trees in surveyed landscapes. For trees with favorable characteristics, we sampled ∼20% of the total above-ground tree area and recovered 5.9 adults per tree from the trees with H. halys present. Two detector canines were successfully trained to recognize and detect the odor of adult H. halys yielding >84% accuracy in laboratory and semi-field trials. Detector canines also found overwintering H. halys under field conditions. In particular, overwintering H. halys were recovered only from dead trees that yielded positive indications from the canines and shared key tree characteristics established by human surveyors. The identified characteristics of natural overwintering sites of H. halys will serve as baseline information to establish crop economic risk levels posed by overwintering populations, and accordingly develop sustainable management programs.