A NEW crop pest known to Americans as the “stink bug” has been discovered living and breeding in Britain for the first time, scientists said yesterday.
Three breeding colonies of Nezara viridula, also known as the green vegetable bug, have been found in London, experts at the Natural History Museum said.
Stink bugs have been discovered regularly in batches of imported vegetables for the past 25 years, but the insects have not until now been known to breed in Britain, where the climate is thought to be too cool.
Max Barclay, curator of beetles at the Natural History Museum, said the discovery of young bugs, known as nymphs, at three locations may be due to global warming.
The discovery is alarming for British farmers as stink bugs are a problematic pest in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Australia, North America and Africa, transmitting disease and leaving plants open to attack by other insects. The creatures can attack fruit and vegetables, including soft fruits, potatoes and beans.
Advertisement
The insects are nicknamed stink bugs in the United States because, when threatened, they secrete toxic chemicals called hydroquinones which have a distinctive foul odour.
Dr Barclay came across two of the colonies when a London gardener took strange insects he had found on his tomato plants to the museum for an insect roadshow event. The third was discovered living in an urban nature reserve near King’s Cross station in Central London.
The green vegetable bug is similar to the green shield bug native to Britain, Palomena prasina, but is a paler green colour, narrower and longer, growing up to 15mm. Unlike the native green shield bug, adult green vegetable bugs have no brown markings. Young bugs have distinctive white-spotted backs, with red edging.