Stink bug spread worries growers across nation

[somone]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110520/ap_on_re_us/us_food_and_farm_stink_bugs

Stink bug spread worries growers across nation
By DAVID DISHNEAU and GENARO C. ARMAS, Associated Press

EMMITSBURG, Md. – An insect with a voracious appetite, no domestic natural predators and a taste for everything from apples to lima beans has caused millions of dollars in crop damage and may just be getting started.

The brown marmorated stink bug, a three-quarter-inch invader native to Asia, is believed to have been brought first to the Allentown, Pa., area in 1998. The bug began appearing in mid-Atlantic orchards in 2003-04 and exploded in number last year. This spring, stink bugs have been seen in 33 states, including every one east of the Mississippi River and as far west as California, Oregon and Washington.

"All that we do know for certain is that a tremendously large population went into overwintering in fall 2010. So, if they survived, there could be a very large population emerging in the spring," said Tracy Leskey, a research entomologist at the U.S. Agriculture Department's Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville W.Va.

Growers in the mid-Atlantic region have reported the worst problems, and the apple industry appears hit hardest, with $37 million in damage to growers in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, according to the U.S. Apple Association. That's about 18 percent of the Mid-Atlantic crop. Mark Seetin, the association's director of regulatory and industry affairs, called it the worst threat to farmers he's see in his 40 years in agriculture...

[msongs]

1. Republican politician demands immediate federal action - darn socialist welfare queen lol nt

[obxhead]

2. I've killed at least 50 of the damn things so far.

About 1/3rd of them indoors.