[MAIPC] BMSB and other thoughts from this year

[Richard Gardner]

The pandemic has mostly shut down my research this year since we are trying to minimize human contact and depression is a constant companion due to the current political situation. However, I am spending at least 10 hours a week in our pandemic garden harvesting onions, beans, okra, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and the yellow squash which refuses to give up.

This year we planted a “pandemic garden”. In the last 5years the Brown Marmorated Stinkbug (Halyomorpha halys) has been a hugeproblem, mostly on tomatoes and pole beans. The last several years we have lost90 percent or more of the pole beans and a large percentage of our tomatoes,especially cherry tomatoes. This year has been different because there has beencomparatively little damage to beans and tomatoes. I have seen a few immatureBMSB, but not the numbers expected from past years’ experience. Over the last 5years we have seen a general decline in BMSB numbers around our home, but notenough to account for this year’s observations. The weather this year may beless rain for us but is just as humid/overcast as the prior 2 years, so the years are comparablein this regard.

What I think is happening is threefold. The first is thecontinued general decline of BMSB we have been witnessing for 5 or 6 years.Second, we had a freeze on May 9 and several other cold days over about a weekwhich may have killed BMSB emerging from hibernation. The third is that Ispaced some of the plants better than other years and a fungus mostlydefoliated our tomatoes leaving the fruit to mature in the open. What I haveseen in the past is that BMSB likes densely planted beans because the thick foliageoffers shelter. I think the same is true for tomatoes. If I remember right fromthe last three years the beans in the open had fewer bite marks than the beansburied in the dense foliage. I think that is happening this year, too. We havea remesh wire trellis with 6 inch squares I used to help me space the “yardlong” beans. There is very little damage on the beans themselves as compared tothe years when I over-planted.

The other creature missing this year is slugs. I have seenvery few if any around the yard or in the garden. Perhaps the “Milwaukee’sBest” I served them over the last two years decided them to try somewhere elsewith better beer?
Another phenomena I may be seeing is apparent hummingbirddamage on tomatoes, especially red cherry tomatoes. Lately when I am in the garden I am often buzzed by hummingbirds. A week ago whilepicking beans an immature hummingbird stopped about 18 inches from my face tothank me for the banquet we provided for her and her friends. Another perched on a tomato cage then pecked at a piece of pink surveyors tape. The bright red cherry tomatoes and a few yellow pear tomatoesappear to have bite marks in them which I cannot attribute to rodents orinsects. The BMSB bite marks are distinct as are the bites from chipmunks.
These are thoughts based on casual observations, nothingmore. However, these thoughts may help us better understand BMSB and thenon-pesticide control measures we can take.
As a postscript in the years since I started studying Castaneadentata (wild not the obscene bastardized hybrids) I have seen C.dentata trees with burrs on many of the trails I walk. Thedifference this year is those on the top of the ridge of Blue Mountain nearhome, northern Berks County, PA, do not appear to have burrs. However, two C.dentata trees I have been tracking for at least 5 years which are below theridgeline have burrs. Perhaps the same late spring freeze which may have takenout the BMSB also destroyed the flowers on these trees on the top of the ridge,but not those below it.
It is time to talk with hummingbirds and chipmunks discussing with them what they can and cannot eat. They are much brighter than most of our neighbors and excellent conversationalists.
                                            Richard Gardner
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