[MAIPC] brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), American chestnut update

[Richard Gardner]

  We live about 30 minutes from ground zero for the brown mamorated stink bug.  Four years ago we were killing thousands of them.  Last year was down to hundreds.  This year is tens.  Until last night when I saw one dying ventral side up, I thought it was a mixture of my diligence in killing them and native birds adapting to a new food source similar to one they already had, native stink bugs.

  As expected but much faster than expected it appears that a disease is wiping them out.  My guess is that the disease adapted or evolved from native stink bugs.  I can send samples or better yet, someone can come here to northern Berks County, PA and collect them.  I can probably arrange for people to visit a couple other homes if they want more samples than I can provide from our home.

  My hope is now that this is happening no one begins trying to introduce a biocontrol for this insect as I fear the inevitable consequences to native stink bugs and similar insects from such an action.  There was some damage to the vegetables we grew this summer, peppers, tomatoes and green beans.  However, the damage was at a level we can easily live with.


  On another front, it appears that the limiting factor for American Chestnut reproduction is direct sunlight on their branches.  I have literally catalogued thousands of these trees this year.  This fall as I checked out groves and other trees in other places I found in the spring the trees with direct sunlight on their branches were the ones that reproduced.  Branches without direct sunlight did not have flowers or burrs.  The key to burrs opening appears to be moisture from rain.  (I have a several bags full right now soaking.)  The heavy gypsy moth infestation this year in the Hawk Mountain area may help American chestnut trees break though the canopy as the heaviest moth damage appeared to be in the canopy.  If so there may be a large harvest of American chestnuts next year or the year after.

  Disease does not appear to affect whether a tree produces seeds even though it may limit seed size and number of burrs produced.  We have burr producing trees about a 40 minute walk in from the SGL110 parking lot on Rt. 183 which are at least 30 feet tall with lesions, some with two sets of lesions on the same trunk.  Or goal is to plant the seeds we collected to see how many generations of reproducing trees we can get.

                                                            Walk more and tinker less,

                                                                                              Richard Gardner