Megacopta cribraria ( F.) 321
potential, suggesting that the bug may spread to most of the area where kudzu is found. The effect of
weather patterns on potential spread is unclear. Climate change as a result of global warming may play a
role in the spread of this species to the north, but recent cold winters in the United States appear to have
slowed its spread. Leslie et al. (2014) reported that hard freezes in January 2014 resulted in mortality of
all bugs found at the base of an oak tree and only one of four overwintering bugs at another site was alive.
Movement into structures or deeper into cover may have enabled these bugs to survive. The northernmost
spread will probably be limited by freezing temperatures whereas western spread in the United States may
be impacted by cold weather, arid conditions, or lack of reproductive hosts. Clearly, there is potential for this
bug to spread to soybean producing areas of the midwestern United States, and care must be taken to prevent
introduction of the bug into southeastern South America where large acreages of soybeans are grown.
Blount et al. (2017) sampled kudzu in two areas near Griffin, GA, from 2012 to 2015 and found that
numbers of all life stages of Megacopta cribraria were significantly lower in 2014 and 2015 than in
2012 and 2013. Gardner and Olson (2016) subsequently sampled multiple kudzu patches in north and
south Georgia from 2013 to 2016. Numbers of adult and immature M. cribraria per 20 sweeps were 115
and 155, respectively, in south Georgia in 2013 and these numbers dropped to 7 and 2 in 2016. In north
Georgia, numbers decreased from 33 and 40 to 0.1 and 0.0 for adults and immatures over the same years.
Authors of both papers postulated that the presence of the parasitoid Paratelenomus saccharalis begin-
ning in 2013 and 2014 (Gardner et al. 2013b, Medal et al. 2015), coupled with increased infestations of
Beauveria bassiana (Ruberson et al. 2013, Seiter et al. 2014a, Britt et al. 2016) may be responsible for
the decline in numbers of M. cribraria. These data support anecdotal observations in the southeastern
United States that the numbers of M. cribraria were lower in 2014 and 2015 than in previous years. So,
although this bug may continue to spread, the accompanying natural enemies may prevent the large
numbers we observed immediately following its introduction. In addition, areas already invaded by this
bug will probably continue to see lower numbers than were previously observed.
5.9 Acknowledgments
We thank David. A. Rider (North Dakota State University, Fargo) for the synonymy of M. cribraria, for
help with literature, and for confirming the identity of this bug. Thomas J. Henry (National Museum
of Natural History, Washington, DC) also confirmed the identification of M. cribraria. Thanks are due
to Amanda M. V. Brown (University of Montana, Bozeman) for verifying our conclusions on the GA1
genome, to Kyle Jordan (BASF Corporation, Atlanta, GA), Keith Daniels (Four Seasons Environmental,
Atlanta, GA) for observations on the nuisance status of this bug in urban areas, Robert C. Kemerait
(University of Georgia, Tifton) for observations of M. cribraria on kudzu from the soybean rust survey,
and Wenjun Bu (Nankai University, Tianjin, China) for providing the English translation of the Hsiao
and Ren (1977) reference. Finally, Jay McPherson’s tireless efforts as editor have resulted in a much
improved manuscript, and we greatly appreciate his efforts.
5.10 References Cited
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(Fabricius) (Pentatomoidea: Plataspidae) with reference to phylogeny. Pakistan Journal of Zoology 7(1): 45–49.
Ahmad, I., and M. Moizuddin. 1975b. Some aspects of internal anatomy of Coptosoma cribrarium ( Fabr.)
(Pentatomoidea: Plataspidae) with reference to phylogeny. Folia Biologica 23(1): 3–61.
Ahmad, I., and M. Moizuddin. 1976. Biological control measures of bean plataspids (Heteroptera: Pentatomoidea)
in Pakistan. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Karachi 6: 85–86.
Ahmad, I., and M. Moizuddin. 1977. Quantitative life-history of bean plataspid; Coptosoma cribrarium ( Fabr.)
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Aiello, A., K. Saltonstall, and V. Young. 2016. Brachyplatys vahlii (Fabricius, 1787), an introduced bug from
Asia: first report in the Western Hemisphere (Hemiptera: Plataspidae: Brachyplatidinae). BioInvasions
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