Potential use of vibrational signals to manage the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys, a new invasive agricultural pest

The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB), Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is a polyphagous insect that can cause severe economic damage on different crops. In Italy this species was first recorded in the region Emilia Romagna in 2012 and in few years it spread in most of the Northern and part of the Central Italian regions. As well as in other stink bugs the mid-short range mating communication is based on the exchange of vibrational signals (duet) between sexes that is the key of pair formation, courtship and copula. During the duet females are stationary and males actively search on the plant. In other pentatomids the directionality of the searching in males, given by female attractive signals, has been demonstrated. We hypothesize that the same principle works also in BMSB and thus it would be possible to use the female calling signal to attract males towards precise source sites (i.e. artificial shakers). If confirmed, this would represent a potential implementation to the traps commonly used for BMSB monitoring, by providing an additional stimulus to enlarge the amount of captured bugs. To assess whether the female calling signal could be employed to capture males we performed different bioassays with males stimulated with either natural and synthetic vibrational signals, in different scenarios (i.e., net cages, round arenas, potted plants). Vibrational signals were recorded with laser vibrometer and a video analysis software was used to study the behavioural responses. Our experiments demonstrated the attractive effect of the female signal in all performed tests. On average, more than 50% of the tested males were attracted to vibrating sources. In addition, we also found a significant increase of walking speed, walked distance and time spent in stimulated areas. These results show promise for developing more efficient trapping techniques against H. halys in both agricultural and urban environments.