Several years ago we were told kudzu bug would be the next super bug and eat all of our soybeans. Luckily they have not hurt us much on any of our row crops but they have really attacked my apples this year. Anyone else see this bug yet. This tree was sprayed with Ortho flower fruit & vegetable insect killer and a sticker one week ago with no rain since.
The Kudzu Bug (Megacopta cribraria) is not listed as a controlled pest on the label for Ortho® Flower, Fruit & Vegetable Insect Killer. I suggest you ask your regional office of Crop Production Services about controls – and then shop around for competitive prices.
I sprayed my fuji apple the other day and it killed the bugs but they have now moved to my mutsu pictured. I guess the spray does not last long. Its such a new pest its probably not listed yet on the label. For now they only seem to like the apple trees and nothing else.
Interesting set of articles here: http://www.kudzubug.org/control.html
Statistically - including weighting by number of trials, Brigade and Endigo have the best track record.
Are they actually feeding on your apple tree or are they just congregating there? I read that they will congregate on figs and mulberries and other trees this time of year, and that’s when they’re most visible in large numbers – I saw huge numbers of them about this time of year last year on one of my figs – but that they don’t hurt figs or mulberries at all but do their damage on bean family crops (including kudzu.)