North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Road's End Farm <organic87@frontiernet.net>]

On Mar 4, 2011, at 4:59 PM, Deb S wrote:

> Every time I hear about this I wonder what the Chinese and other Asian
> countries do about it.  Anyone know?


Wherever it comes from, there's probably something there that eats it,  
and helps keep it under control. Importing whatever eats it, however,  
might or might not be a bright idea, as whatever that is might cause  
its own problems. Possible predators generally need to be carefully  
investigated before deciding whether they can be safely imported; and  
this process can take years. There do seem to be people working on it:

From this page:

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/bean/brown_marmorated_stink_bug.htm

  "A newly described species, Trissolcus halymorphae Yang  
(Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) is an egg parasitoid that has been  
identified as the primary biological control agent responsible for the  
management of BMSB in northern China (Yang et al. 2009). This  
parasitoid averages a 50% mortality rate for BMSB populations, and it   
was the only natural enemy identified with a mortality rate exceeding  
10%. Trissolcus halymorphae is currently not known to occur in the  
U.S. with existing populations of BMSB."


From this page:

http://www.coldclimategardening.com/2009/04/19/the-brown-marmorated-stink-bug-what-you-need-to-know/

"Pheromone traps for this insect are under development but are not yet  
available commercially. Most stink bugs are attacked by a variety of  
natural enemies, especially insect predators and parasitoids. Research  
has shown that native North American beneficial insects don’t show  
much interest in BMSB, however, and there are no commercially  
available beneficial insects that effectively attack BMSB. USDA  
entomologists are studying the feasibility of introducing effective  
BMSB natural enemies from Asia that are safe and specific to the stink  
bug and which would offer some long-term relief."



-- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 5 mostly
Fresh-market organic produce, small scale