Refining pheromone lures for the invasive Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) through collaborative trials in the United States and Europe

Brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys, is native to Asia and has invaded North America and Europe inflicting serious agricultural damage to specialty and row crops. Tools to monitor the spread of H. halys include traps baited with the two-component aggregation pheromone (PHER), (3S,6S,7R,10S)-10,11-epoxy-1-bisabolen-3-ol and (3R,6S,7R,10S)-10,11-epoxy-1-bisabolen-3-ol, and pheromone synergist, methyl (2E,4E,6Z)-decatrienoate (MDT). Here, an international team of researchers conducted trials aimed at evaluating prototype commercial lures for H. halys to establish relative attractiveness of: 1) low and high loading rates of PHER and MDT for monitoring tools and attract and kill tactics; 2) polyethylene lure delivery substrates; and 3) the inclusion of ethyl (2E,4E,6Z)-decatrieonate (EDT), a compound that enhances captures when combined with PHER in lures. In general, PHER loading rate had a greater impact on overall trap captures compared with loading of MDT, but reductions in PHER loading and accompanying lower trap captures could be offset by increasing loading of MDT. As MDT is less expensive to produce, these findings enable reduced production costs. Traps baited with lures containing PHER and EDT resulted in numerically increased captures when EDT was loaded at a high rate, but captures were not significantly greater than those traps baited with lures containing standard PHER and MDT. Experimental polyethylene vial dispensers did not outperform standard lure dispensers; trap captures were significantly lower in most cases. Ultimately, these results will enable refinement of commercially available lures for H. halys to balance attraction and sensitivity with production cost.