Summary
Forests and agriculture are intimately connected, especially when it comes to recent insect invasions by some devastating pests. Forests provide essential overwintering habitat for the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomopha halys, and spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii. These two insect species, originally from Asia, are spreading across North America and costing millions of dollars of damage annually to high value commodities such as apples and grapes among more than 100 other crop species. Both insects overwinter in the adult stage, often in forests under loose bark on trees; however, portions of North America may have winters that are too harsh for the insects to survive. Forest Service scientist Rob Venette, working with his colleagues at the University of Minnesota and Virginia Tech, have studied the cold stress of both insects. Fewer than 10 percent of brown marmorated stink bugs survived exposure to 0 °F (-18 °C), and fewer than 10 percent of spotted wing drosophila survived exposure to -4 °F (-20 °C). This information is useful to project when and where temperatures might be too cold for these insects to survive winter, now and in future climates.
