Oh ho ho ho ho….that Kudzu Bug (Megacopta cribraria) better watch out now!
In a paper published Tuesday in the open-access Journal of Insect Science, researchers describe the discovery and identification of the wasp Ooencyrtus nezarae parasitizing kudzu bug eggs in Alabama. Previously known to inhabit several countries in Asia as well as Brazil (where it was introduced as a biological control agent for stink bugs), O. nezarae offers promise as another useful biological control agent against kudzu bug in the U.S. In the kudzu bug egg masses collected in the study, an average of 95.6 percent of the eggs were parasitized by O. nezarae.
That sounds promising!
