ixPreface
This book began with Tom Miller, University of California-Riverside, in his position as editor of the
series “Contemporary Topics in Entomology,” produced by CRC Press and Taylor & Francis Group, with
John Sulzycki as senior editor with the publisher. The series results from people and symposium titles
Tom encounters at various meetings and is centered on topics of current interest. Thus far, the series
has published the following titles: Insect Symbiosis (3 volu mes); Insect Sounds and Communication:
Physiology, Behaviour, Ecology, and Evolution; Food Exploitation by Social Insects: Ecological,
Behavioral, and Theoretical Approaches; Molecular Biology and Genetics of Lepidoptera; Honey Bee
Colony Health: Challenges and Sustainable Solutions; Forensic Entomology: International Dimensions
and Frontiers; and Greenhouse Pest Management.
The idea for this book began with Tom’s involvement with Global Knowledge Initiative, a Washington
D.C.-based non-profit organization dedicated to helping developing countries address science and tech-
nology problems. The first project of this organization in 2012 was to help solve a defect associated with
Arabica coffee from East Africa. This defect is called “Potato Taste Defect” (PTD) because a few out of
100 cups of brewed coffee taste and smell like rotten potatoes. PTD is attributed to contamination of cof-
fee cherries by microbes left from feeding by stink bugs of the genus Antestiopsis; occurrence of these
bugs is centered in Rwanda and Burundi and, to a lesser extent, in Uganda, Kenya, Congo, and Tanzania.
Coffee exports represent about 25% of Rwanda’s income, and although the coffee industry is thriving
there, solving PTD would be of great benefit.
During this same period, Tom also became familiar with the biology of the brown marmorated stink
bug and the southern green stink bug and learned of their association with microbes. He found the infor-
mation so interesting that he organized a symposium, “Pentatomids and Microbes,” for the European
Congress of Entomology that was held in York, United Kingdom, 3–8 August 2014. The contributors for
that symposium constituted the starting core for designing the book on stink bug biology. Shortly there-
after, Tom asked me to serve as editor of the section on invasive stink bug species plus the Antestiopsis
complex (antestia bugs).
I soon realized that serving as editor for the invasive stink bugs and Antestiopsis was going to be diffi-
cult because the other chapters involved Pentatomoidea in general (e.g., Higher Classification, Pathogens,
Semiochemistry) and there was no underlying theme to pull the information together. After consulting
with Tom about my concerns, he asked me to serve as editor for the entire book. Oh, well!
My first task was to select an individual for each chapter who, based on my knowledge or on recom-
mendations from others, was highly qualified and willing to serve as chair. Then, I asked each chair to
select contributors for his/her chapter who also were highly qualified and enthusiastic about contributing
their expertise. The net result was the selection of 60 contributors from 13 countries (15, if you include
the native countries of two authors whose current locations are elsewhere), giving the book a cosmopoli-
tan flavor.
The contributors for each chapter were asked to submit the most recent information of which they were
aware and to treat it as though they were preparing an article for the Annual Review of Entomology. All
were highly enthusiastic about the project, each group of contributors considering their chapter to be an
excellent opportunity to present the most comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of their specialties. As
a result, this book encompasses a wide-ranging series of topics that are connected, sometimes loosely,
by the underlying theme of the invasive species (even with the inclusion of the Antestiopsis complex,
Chapter 10).
The book is divided into 10 sections, reflecting the breadth of coverage among the 16 chapters.
Section I (Chapter 1) discusses introductory information including a brief classification overview of
the Pentatomoidea, general biology of this superfamily, predators, parasites, chemical defenses, and
brief information on the invasive species. Section II (Chapter 2) presents a thorough treatment of the