Series: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

The brown marmorated stink bug is an invasive species in the United States, arriving from Asia in the late 1990s. It has damaged tens of millions of dollars of apples and other crops in eastern states, and struck Michigan in the 2015 growing season. Wisconsin might be next. The insect hasn't yet started preying on crops here, but it has established a breeding population in the state, and it's known to eat many of the things Wisconsin farmers grow — especially apples. However, entomologists are researching the bug's behavior and how to control it.
 
Brown marmorated stink bug
A smelly and increasingly infamous agricultural pest that is expanding through the United States, the brown marmorated stink bug is native to East Asia, where it challenges farmers throughout the region.
Apple showing brown marmorated stink bug damage
The brown marmorated stink bug is an invasive species in the United States that is expanding its range as an agricultural pest around the nation.
Brown marmorated stink bug spreads in Wisconsin
Wisconsin may be at a turning point with the brown marmorated stink bug.
Comparison of stink bug species
As an invasive species in North America, the brown marmorated stink bug is the subject of ongoing scientific study, particularly by researchers in regions the species colonized.
Brown marmorated stink bug
As growers and agriculture researchers have learned during the brown marmorated stink bug's 20-year migration across the U.S., managing the pest is difficult.
Brown marmorated stink bug on an apple
Though the brown marmorated stink bug has only been spotted in Wisconsin over the last seven years, entomologists tracking the species suggest that it may become a prominent problem for farmers and gardeners. Links to resources and more information about it follow.
Brown marmorated stink bug on an apple
Once found only a four-hour ferry ride across Lake Michigan, the brown marmorated stink bug poses a growing threat to Wisconsin orchards and vegetable crops.
Brown marmorated stink bug
Nature is full of checks and balances. Of the roughly 1 million species of insects known to science, there's an amazing intricacy to the food web.
With the advance of the brown marmorated stink bug across the United States, Wisconsin researchers are working to detect when and where their populations will reach nuisance or agricultural pest levels in the state — leading to the first official report of them on on agricultural crops in Wisconsin in early October.
The samurai wasp could be the nation's best chance at beating back a stink bug that's invading the Great Lakes region.