What are the latest control methods for the lychee stink bug?
The lychee stink bug is a fruit tree pest, also known as the lychee stink bug. It is an insect of the family Tessaratomidae in the order Hemiptera, mainly damaging lychee and longan, and also damaging other plants of the family Sapindaceae. The adult is about 25 mm long, shield-shaped, and yellowish-brown. In China it is distributed in Fujian, Taiwan, China, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and other provinces and regions. Now let us take a look at the control methods for the lychee stink bug!
Morphological characteristics
The adult lychee stink bug is about 25 mm long, shield-shaped, and yellowish-brown, with the ventral surface covered in white waxy powder. It has stink glands, with openings at the junction of the mesothorax and metathorax on the ventral side of the thorax. The egg is spherical, 2.5-2.7 mm long, light green, and turns dark gray before hatching. The nymph's body color alternates red and black. The eggs are nearly spherical, 2.5-2.7 mm in diameter, light green when first laid, a few light yellow, and purplish-red near hatching, often gathering in clusters of 14.
Life habits
The lychee stink bug has 1 generation per year, overwintering as adults in dense leaf clusters or on the backs of old leaves on the tree. The following year in March and April they resume activity and lay eggs on the backs of leaves. In May and June the nymphs break out in large numbers and cause damage. The nymph has 5 instars, lasting about 2 months, and has a habit of playing dead. Most molt into adults in July, and enter the overwintering period after the weather turns cold. Nymphs and adults pierce and suck the sap of tender shoots, flower spikes, and young fruits of lychee and longan, causing flower and fruit drop. If disturbed, they often spray a foul liquid in self-defense, and the parts of tender shoots and young fruits it touches turn scorched brown.
Damage symptoms
Both adults and nymphs of the lychee stink bug pierce and suck the sap of tender branches, flower spikes, and young fruits, causing flower and fruit drop. The foul liquid they secrete, when it touches flower stamens, tender leaves, and young fruits, can cause the contacted parts to die. When it breaks out in large numbers it seriously affects yield, and can even result in total crop failure.
Control methods
1. Agricultural control: Agricultural control is mainly manual capture. During low-temperature periods in winter (below 10°C), the lychee stink bug is affected by the cold and is not easy to take flight. Suddenly shaking the branches vigorously makes the overwintering adults fall to the ground, where they are gathered and burned. The Anastatus japonicus wasp is used to control the lychee stink bug.
2. Chemical control: In early spring, before the overwintering adults have laid a large number of eggs, spray trichlorfon solution (800-1000 times dilution) to kill the overwintering adults. Spray a second application during the nymph stage to kill large numbers of 3rd-instar nymphs. In areas with high insect density, spray the whole area; in areas with low insect density and few flowering fruit trees, apply the pesticide only to key spots. In large contiguous lychee areas, use aircraft for control.