Stink Bug Crisis

The brown marmorated stink bug crisis that has killed plants on the East Coast has now reached 38 states and the West Coast, prompting Congress to push the Agriculture Department to speed up the search for an assassin of the pest.

Within the House-passed Farm Bill is $831,000 to fund added research of the bug and what will kill it. "This pest is causing significant damage to agricultural products, particularly the apple crop in mid-Atlantic states," said the report.

Agriculture officials are studying the use of a miniscule Chinese bee to control the stinkbug population. The bee lays its eggs in the stinkbug eggs, killing them.

Reprinted from LandscapeOnline.com