I was walking about in the orchard today and had a ball of tape in my hand from unwrapping a scion that failed. So, I see this BMSB perched there on a limb and I use the tape ball to smash him. Odd, I thought later, no stink when I smashed him since they always put off that bad odor when you smush 'em.
So I get to looking around and low and behold another…so I smash him too. Odd crunchy sound? I see another and do the same and realize that not only are these guys dead, but they are even dessicated.
So I look under the tree in the mulch and there lays about a dozen…deader than hell. It’s very early for BMSB here this year.
Last year I sprayed masses of them point blank with double mixed Triazicide and they couldn’t have cared less, it didn’t even phase them. Hade to kill them with Zeta Cypermethrin.
Now I know Imidan is known to be an adequeate spray for BMSB, but I was under the impression that it was somewhat weak on them.
So, although I hate everything else about imidan…odor, messy mixing, long REI etc…I’m really starting to love it’s freakishly impressive knock down power. No more OTC home center sprays for me. Imidan is on the job and am happy as hell so far with it’s performance.
I hope Imidan continues to work for you this way, but it has never been particularly effective for me against other bugs such as tarnished plant bugs or green stink bugs. BMSB is supposed to be a much tougher customer than these and only a couple of pyrethroids and neonicinoids are suppose to have much affect against it.
My guess would be that Triazide would have better knock down power than Imidan against BMSB. Permithrin would probably be the best bet, from what I’ve read, as far as what is commonly available.
Not saying you didn’t see what you saw, just that it flies in the face of what researchers are telling commercial fruit growers. There are big problems in using more disruptive insecticides than Imidan to control BMSB, including huge mite flare ups. Believe me, the entire industry wishes Imidan was up to the task.
Alan…I hope too it continues to work well. As I said in my post, I’m aware it’s lethality on BMSB isn’t supposed to be all that great, that’s why it surprised me. There were no living insects in the tree at all.
Triazicide’s active ingredient is among the most potent there is against them so I don’t think it’s the compound, but rather the concentration. I think that’s Triazicides problem with everything…it’s just too dilute even moreso since the concentration reduction a few years ago.
Oh…when I said about spraying them with Zeta-Cypermethrin, that was correct, but I forgot it also included Bifenthrin. The product was Ortho’s Home Defense Max…not labeled for fruit trees, or any edibles for that matter, though it’s contents have been labeled for fruit trees.
I attached a link below (a very, very good read) with great photos. Imidan scores 20 on the lethality index. Gama Cyhalothrin (Triazicide) is tops at 95.
Something that may surprise you Alan (it did me) is that Malathion is actually among the best at 92.
I didn’t choose Imidan for BMSB, but rather PC, so when I witnessed it’s lethality on them, for me, that drove home the idea that it was a very good insecticide since it even produced good results in it’s area of weakness.
Thanks Appleseed. That does surprise me about Malathion- maybe one may as well use that to avoid knocking down the beneficials- nothing has much residual activity anyway. I’m curious about Olpea’s insight on this as he has more experience countering stinkbugs than I do. Until last year all I ever faced was the green ones. Not sure if Olpea has faced BMSB though, although I’m sure he’s well versed in the lit.
Last year, what appeared to be the work of BMSB destroyed or severely damaged peaches at 3 sites about 10 miles from each other. While that is only about 3% of the orchards I manage it certainly got my attention.
What about breaking the law and applying Triazicide at rates that would knock BMSB down? If I was an amateur I have to admit that I wouldn’t be very reluctant to do that.
If I have a real bad problem with them, especially if they mass somewhere like they seem to love doing I still have the other spray (Bifenthrin / Zeta-Cypermethrin) and I’d use that. I’d use it on any non-edible and I’d use it on any edible fruit I wasn’t going to harvest for a long time. Both chemicals have been or are still now listed for fruit trees. The label from which I sprayed it was not though.
I fanned it out into the tree canopy (this was last year) and immediately, tick, tick, tick…they began to drop hitting the ground. There were a thousand I’d guess and the next morning not a single solitary living BMSB.
I do wonder though if the birds eat those poisoned dead bugs and if they do does it harm them?
We get stink bugs heavy and early here. I’ve also read Imidan is weak on stinkers. I know one commercial grower who started selling peaches here about 3 years ago. His first year he used Imidan and had lots of stink bug damage. He has since switched to Mustang w/ much better results.
Another peach grower around here uses Imidan, but also rotates with Pounce (permethrin). He also sprays his nearby tree lines (of forested trees) with Pounce to try to kill stink bugs and PC to reduce the migration to the orchard.
I use Actara early in the season for stink bug and PC, which also does a good job. Once you get a good kill down of the population, they are slow to recover. I was a little late this year to start spraying and got quite a bit of stink bug damage we have tried to thin off. We don’t have BMSB here yet. It’s actually here, but not shown up in any significant numbers yet. Sort of like Japanese beetles so far. We have J. beetles, but are rarely seen and I’ve never seen a tree or grape defoliated, like I’ve heard they can do.
Glad Imidan is working so well for you Apple. I know you’ve worked hard to try to protect your fruit.
I wonder what made the grower switch to Mustang? It isn’t super effective on BMSB, but maybe the native stink bugs are different, I know they are supposed to be a bit softer.
Olpea, were you surprised by Malathion’s effectiveness on BMSB? It looks like it may be the way to go if I start to have a real problem with them here. This is the earliest they’ve appeared in here in large numbers.
My friend 10 miles east of here has had a terrible problem with them on tomatoes and peaches for several years now.
Yeah OP, what’s your opinion on that bit of info? If it is correct I would go with Malathion for knock down if they were getting on my apples. For peaches I don’t believe there is so much problem killing everything that flies or crawls in an exoskeleton (or will if it lives long enough).
It’s not that Mustang is super great on stink bug, rather that Imidan is tested as so weak. I couldn’t get your link to open but Mustang has some lethality against stink bug.
Actara (what I use) had very good activity against BMSB
Mustang is fairly popular around here because it’s cheap. They use a lot of it for row crops because it is fairly broad spectrum. It also has a very short PHI on some berries (1 day).
I have to admit I haven’t been keeping up on BMSB control. It’s not on the radar much here, so although I read about it when it was first introduced to the U.S. I’ve sort of lost interest. I know Malathion is also very useful against SWD and has a short PHI, so it makes it a product of choice for a lot of people.
I’ve used Malathion before but found it worthless for most things so don’t use it anymore. Strangely it hardly affects Green June Beetles (different than Japanese beetles) at all.
If at some point I need to control BMSB later in the season, I’ll probably use Danitol. I bought a gallon for SWD because it also shows good control for that. It also has one of the shortest PHI of pyrethoids for many of the fruits I grow, which can be important for SWD control.
I meant to write, "It’s not that Mustang is super great on stink bug, rather that Imidan is tested as so weak. I couldn’t get your link to open but Mustang has some lethality against stink bug.
I edited my above post to reflect what I meant to write.
You can always throw some Surround on them. If I remember the Surround I come out fine, some damage but it gets thinned out. Last year I neglected to spray the Asian pears and they got completely mauled by stinkers. Later Surround sprayed on peaches can be a pain, it doesn’t easily come off the fruits. So, I usually just live with the later damage which is not all that noticeable anyway.
Scott, I’m glad you brought up Surround. Even if it sticks to peaches it does no real harm beyond aesthetics. It is a real alternative for home growers, especially if they are willing to go synthetic with fungicides as you are.
Yeah, and according to the chart it’s lethality to BMSB is actually better than Phosmet, Surround scores 23. It looks like when combined with an insecticide it’s actually pretty impressive.
I don’t know by what means the chart is constructed, though I’d imagine it probably tells you.
Olpea, after clicking on the link just wait a few seconds. It’s a fairly big file with lots of HD photos, so it takes a sec for it to open. I was hoping you’d look through it and give some feedback. Lots of good photos to give you an idea of what to expect when BMSB makes it out your way. Unfortunately, I’m assuming it eventually will.
I tried the link again and got it to open. Thanks. Interesting info on the lethality index. I was surprised Assail has such low activity on BMSB.
You mentioned earlier Gamma-Cyhalothrin (Traizicide) had a score of 95. Actually it’s Cobalt (a premix of Gamma-Cyhalothrin and Chlorpyrifos) which scores 95. Straight Gamma-Cyhalothrin has a lower score by itself (although still decent at 59). It’s the Chlorpyrifos component which really gives Cobalt its kick.
Chlorpyrifos (Lorsban) is a powerful organophosphate. It used to be used for all kinds of things, subterranean termites, sprayed on livestock, everything (sort of like DDT). The EPA is cracking down on all organophosphates (Guthion is gone, Imidan has more label restrictions). Likewise Lorsban has fairly strict restrictions for fruit trees.
I suspect organophosphates will eventually go the way of organochlorines, which have pretty much been eliminated (DDT, Chlordane, Endosulfan, etc.).
I don’t currently use any organophosphates on my fruit because I sell the fruit (although I do use Lorsban on the trunks of non-bearing trees). If BMSB really makes a presence here, and I can’t control it without an organophosphate, I may be forced to use Malathion to control the pest.
yeah…I had already noticed my mistake on the gamma. Didn’t know that Chlorpyrifos was Lorsban though.
You say you don’t use organophosphates on your fruits because you sell them? I plan on eating my fruit that I’m spraying with an organophosphate.
Is there some reason I should be concerned?
There is no reason to be concerned about Imidan- it is just that the industry is turning away from it- probably mostly for the safety of workers rubbing up against sprayed plants day after day, I believe. It doesn’t stick to where it’s sprayed and for a long time after a tree is sprayed it will provide you with a dose if you so much as rub against dew soaked leaves.
For myself I’m not at all concerned about organophosphates. There is public concern, so out of respect for that I don’t spray fruit w/ OPs. Typically, OPs have a lower LD50 than most other insecticides which makes them more acutely toxic. They are also cholinesterase inhibitors. I’ve read it recommended people who regularly spray OPs have their cholinesterase levels checked before and after the growing season (You don’t have anything to worry about with just a few trees.)
Also there are some studies which claim OPs could be linked to developmental problems in children. My own opinion is that I doubt the linkage is very strong, but perception is reality in the public eye.
Because of this I don’t spray fruit intended for sale w/ OPs because, so far, there are alternatives for me. I wouldn’t at all be afraid myself of eating fruit/vegetables which have been sprayed w/ OPs, and probably do so all the time, but I’m just trying to stay in front of the curve as much as is practically possible. As I indicated, if BMSB becomes a problem to the extent that Malathion is the only answer, then I’ll use Malathion.