I am paraphrasing an email we received from Jack Bacheler at NC State last week alerting us to a new invasive insect pest of soybeans. The Figure images (Fig. 1, Fig. 2, and Fig. 3) are attached:

The bean plataspid, Megacopta cribraria Fabricius, is a new invasive pest from south Asia that is currently spreading throughout the southeastern United States (Fig. 1). This insect is a piercing sucking pest (similar feeding as stink bugs) on legumes and was first found on kudzu in Georgia during December 2009. It has since been confirmed on both soybeans and kudzu in both Georgia and SoI am paraphrasing an email we received from Jack Bacheler last week alerting us to a new invasive insect pest of soybeans. The Figure images (Fig. 1, Fig. 2, and Fig. 3) are attached: uth Carolina in 2010. The confirmed distribution is represented in Fig. 2.

Research on insecticide management options is being conducted by Dr. Phillip Roberts, University of Georgia, and his colleagues. The University of Georgia researchers and Dr. Jeremy Greene, Clemson University, are monitoring this pest and we need to be vigilant for the appearance of this pest in North Carolina. Many invasive insects are found in extremely high numbers upon initial establishment, which may aid in our detection of this pest (Fig. 3). Current numbers from Georgia in soybeans are reported as close to 10 insects per sweep near field borders, where the distribution of this pest is the highest.

Please contact me if you see this insect in your soybean field (Ames Herbert, 757-657-6450, ext 411, Herbert@vt.edu).
Additional information: bean-plataspid-jul-22-2010-ppt