Scientists are asking New Brunswickers to remain on the lookout for a pest that is causing major damage to fruit and vegetable crops in parts of Canada and the United States.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada entomologist Chandra Moffat said the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug hasn’t made its way to New Brunswick or Nova Scotia yet, but said the agricultural pest has been found in parts of Maine, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.

Moffat said this specific stink bug is invasive and can severely damage nearly 100 types of crops.

“It punctures fruits like tree fruits, berries, tomatoes, corn, even soy and the damage that’s left on the fruit from the piercing of the bug makes the fruit unmarketable,” Moffat said.

Have you seen this bug? If so, put it in your freezer. Find out why & how damaging this pest can be on @Global_NB at 6. pic.twitter.com/eUTxfZ0IOj — Adrienne South (@AdrienneKS) May 23, 2017

Moffat said the pests could make their way to New Brunswick in the next few years and said traps are currently being set up along the Maine and Quebec borders. She said “the best prevention is early detection.”

Story continues below advertisement

Moffat said the bugs differ from native stink bugs and can be identified by “white bands on their dark antennae” and “inward-pointing white triangles between dark markings on the edge of their abdomen.”

While the bugs can migrate on their own, Moffat also noted they are “hitchhikers” and often attach themselves to luggage and trailers of people camping in areas where they are already present. She suggests people traveling this summer should watch for the bugs and check their vehicles and belongings before returning to New Brunswick.

If you think you see a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug in New Brunswick you can send photos to @ChandraMoffat — Adrienne South (@AdrienneKS) May 23, 2017

Moffat is asking anyone who thinks they’ve spotted the pest to send her photos or freeze the bugs and mail them to her. She can be reached at Chanda.moffat@canada.ca or through her Twitter account.

Farmers concerned over threat to crops

Fred Duplessis farm operator Gary Stephens said he’d heard of the invasive stink bugs and said he’s concerned they could do severe damage to crops if the species makes its way into New Brunswick.

“”I’m very concerned about it because it’s a new species that we haven’t had yet,”Stephens said. “They don’t have any natural predators here, [and] we don’t know how to combat it.”

He said the Duplessis farm grows a variety of vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumbers and noted the bugs could do “a lot of damage” in a “very short time.”

Story continues below advertisement

“We have a lot of money that we invest every year, whether it’s from the fertilizers or from the plastic mulch that we put down for our crops, or the time [it takes to plant crops],” Stephens said.

“It takes us about two weeks to put in our crops … and if you get an insect that could come and destroy that, you would probably lose a whole season because we’re late this year — and if we don’t get our crops in and get them growing, we don’t have an opportunity to re-plant again,” Stephens said.

Stephens said he’s concerned the bugs will catch farmers off guard, as the risk is not something many people are aware of yet.

“I’ve been talking to a fair amount of farmers because we sell seed potatoes… and we’ve been talking about different problems that we foresee for this year, and the biggest problem is the cucumber beetle and how we are going to combat that,” Stephens said. “No one’s ever said anything about the stink bugs yet.”

Stephens said it raises the question of what types of pesticides would be needed to combat the bugs, and whether those would be readily available in New Brunswick. If such preventative materials took weeks to get once the bugs arrived, it could be too late to save crops, he pointed out.

Story continues below advertisement