The Australian Wine Research Institute

Viticultural areas in parts of the United States and Europe have established populations of BMSB that require monitoring and controlling. Vineyard monitoring for BMSB is most critical during the spring and summer when they feed on both unripe and ripe fruit, with vines being susceptible as early as the onset of fruit set (Ingels 2014). BMSB can feed on over 300 host plants and thus are able to find suitable food sources at many stages of their growing season (Haye et al. 2015, Basnet 2014). Large populations can rapidly move to a different crop type as an existing food source is harvested, or as a preferential one ripens (Basnet et al. 2015). This makes monitoring and detection challenging and highlights the value of a coordinated approach among primary industries in potentially affected areas.

Surveillance and control measures for BMSB focus on the edges and borders of susceptible crops as these are preferred feeding sites. Visual surveillance for live insects and feeding damage is often used in conjunction with pheromone-lure traps that are becoming an effective detection tool. The most common trap design consists of a black pyramid-shaped traps containing an entry cone at its tip containing the pheromone attractant. Black pyramid traps are also a visual cue for BMSB, as their likeness in colour to a dark tree-trunk exploits known behavioural tendencies of both nymphs and adults to ascend tree trunks. This design has been proven to be more effective than other trap colours and styles (Leskey 2012). Trap catch numbers can guide the timing and frequency of pesticide applications, reducing pesticide costs and resistance and limiting impacts on non-target species and existing integrated pest management systems (Leskey 2020). Current research is focused on the development of more attractive pheromone-lure chemicals and to identify optimal location and spacing of traps for improved monitoring and detection (Rice 2017). Black Pyramid traps have been used at Australian sites where there have been detections in overseas cargo (Horwood 2019)