An improved approach to data gathering and management could help growers devise effective strategies against the invasive and damaging brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys), which feeds on a range of crops and has causes hundreds of millions’ worth of losses every year.
A three-year study in Italy, one of the first places in Europe the bug colonised, set out to provide real-time tracking of the pest as a public service. The computer scientists and biologists behind the work, led by Chiara Forresi at the University of Bologna, set up an extensive monitoring network in Emilia-Romagna, a region of intensive agriculture and famed for its fruit production.
They used pyramid traps with pheromone lures, which are tailored for capturing H. halys. Data was logged by those on the ground using Collaborative Agro Sensing, an easy-to-use app. They also recorded other data such as weather, satellite images and environmental factors.
Timing is critical in sustainable control
Using the information, they devised a publicly available web platform combining the data, resulting an enriched resource for use by growers and agronomists. Additionally, the team sent a out a weekly bulletin providing updates on the biology of the bug, such as mating, emergence and migrations.
“The knowledge on H. halys occurrence, distribution, and phenology is crucial to effectively apply integrated pest management strategies; in particular, highlighting the periods of the pest’s high abundance can help focus and rationalize the insecticide-based control,” the researchers wrote in the journal Ecological Informatics.
“Our study reached these needs, providing…growers and pest control advisors with useful information to set the alerts, to choose the appropriate control methods, and therefore to optimise the insecticide usage in the management of H. halys.”
Growing insights to fight invader
The work also provided new insight into population patterns, noting that weekly bug counts tended be associated with temperature and weather conditions, while captures over the course of a year are more linked to environmental features such as gardens, borders and water sources. The scientists also saw some effects at specific points of the year, such as an association between high spring emergence and the presence of nearby buildings which could serve as shelter over winter.
The project is not the only research in Italy looking at collecting better data on the pest. Another ongoing project aims to devise an ‘internet of things’ approach for monitoring H. halys using camera traps, drones and artificial intelligence.
Other recent research has shown that a number of interventions beyond conventional insecticides can be effective against the bug. These include applications with strains of the beneficial fungus Beauveria bassiana, while new natural enemies in the bug’s native range continue to be revealed as possible options for future control programmes.
