Spatial Distribution of Stink Bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in Wheat

A two-year study was conducted in South Carolina wheat (Triticum aestivum L. (Poales: Poaceae)) fields to describe spatial and temporal dynamics of stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), which were sampled weekly with sweep nets. In 2010, the main phytophagous stink bugs caught in a grid sampling plan across two fields were the brown stink bug, Euschistus servus (Say), the rice stink bug, Oebalus pugnax (F.), the southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula (L.), and the red shouldered stink bug, Thyanta custator (F.), for both adults and nymphs. In 2011, the main phytophagous stink bugs were E. servus, O. pugnax, N. viridula, and T. custator across two fields. Adult stink bug counts adjacent to fallow fields were 2.1-fold greater for all species combined compared with counts adjacent to woods. Spatial Analysis by Distance IndicEs (SADIE) indicated significant aggregation for 35% of analyses for adults and nymph stink bugs at each sampling date. As a measure of spatial and temporal stability, positive SADIE association indices among sampling dates recorded 11, 36, 43, and 16% of analyses for adult E. servus and 7, 50, 50, and 14% for adult O. pugnax in fields A, B, C, and D, respectively. Adult and nymph stink bugs were spatially associated within wheat fields based on SADIE association indices. Seasonal counts of stink bugs were spatially associated with spike counts at least once for each species across the four fields. Future work may investigate practices to reduce stink bug buildup on wheat in the spring and movement to susceptible crops such as corn, Zea mays L.