Marmorated stink bugs threaten Wisconsin's apple production

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) announced that Madison and the state’s Dane County will experience brown marmorated stink bugs this fall, a potential threat to apple growers.

The stink bugs feed on fruit trees, leaving fruit with distorted skin and bruised flesh. In addition to apple tress, they have been known to affect harvests of peaches, mulberries, soybeans, sweet and field corn, tomatoes, lima beans, green beans and ornamental plants.

The bugs can also impact buildings, where they sometimes congregate; even if they do get inside, however, they do not breed indoors.

"People might be familiar with native species of stink bugs, but the brown marmorated stink bug is an exotic. It originates from Eastern Asia, and like other exotics, it lacks natural enemies," DATCP Bureau of Plant Industry Director Brian Kuhn said. "In other parts of the nation where it has been found, it has attacked a wide range of agricultural, garden and ornamental plants, and gets into homes."

The bugs have previously established themselves in the East and in California, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Washington.