Relationship Between Invasive Brown Marmorated Stink Bug ( Halyomorpha halys ) and Fumonisin Contamination of Field Corn in the Mid-Atlantic U.S

• Published in: Plant disease Vol. 103; no. 6; p. 1189
• Main Authors: Opoku, Joseph, Kleczewski, Nathan M, Hamby, Kelly A, Herbert, D Ames, Malone, Sean, Mehl, Hillary L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-06-2019
• Subjects: Animals; Delaware; Fumonisins - analysis; Fusarium - chemistry; Fusarium - physiology; Hemiptera - chemistry; Hemiptera - microbiology; Maryland; Virginia; Zea mays - chemistry; Zea mays - microbiology; Delaware; Maryland; Virginia
• ISSN: 0191-2917
• DOI: 10.1094/PDIS-06-18-1115-RE

Brown marmorated stink bug (
Stål) is an invasive agricultural pest that causes severe damage to many crops. To determine potential associations between
feeding damage,
infection, and mycotoxin contamination in field corn, a field survey was conducted in eight counties in Virginia. Results indicated an association between
feeding damage and fumonisin contamination. Subsequent field experiments in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia examined the ability of
to increase
(Sacc.) Nirenberg infection and fumonisin concentrations in corn. At the milk stage,
(0 or 4 adults) and
(with or without
inoculum) treatments were applied to bagged ears in a two by two factorial randomized complete block design with 12 replicates.
treatments increased levels of feeding damage (
< 0.0001) and
infection (
= 0.0380). Interaction between
and
treatments influenced severity of infection (
= 0.0018) and fumonisin concentrations (
= 0.0360). Results suggest
has the ability to increase both
infection and fumonisin concentrations in field corn. Further studies are needed to understand mechanisms by which
increases fumonisin and to develop management strategies to mitigate impacts of
on field corn in the region.