J. E. Mcpherson And R. M. Mcpherson
CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL
2000, 253 pp. Hardcover
Price: $69.95, ISBN: 0-8493-0071-1

During the course of my career as an extension entomologist in plant protection, one of the more difficult problems that I have been asked to help solve is the management of stink bugs and the damage they cause to plants. Stink bugs sometimes are blamed for problems they probably didn’t cause, and they "get away" with inflicting damage on plants that often is attributed to other causes. I have had more than one fruit grower tell me that "they would give anything" if someone could discover and patent a way to consistently control stink bugs in peach and apple orchards. Whether they were just "venting" their frustration or really did believe that there was a "pot o’ gold" in that knowledge, only time will tell. The good news is that there is an excellent source of information available to those who may choose to seek their fortune in stink bug management.

Stink Bugs of Economic Importance in America North of Mexico was written for those interested in stink bug management including extension professionals, crop consultants, and producers who deal with them as pests on a regular basis. Both authors are widely known for their expertise in stink bug taxonomy and biology. There is no question in my mind that both authors made a serious effort to cover this topic thoroughly but with the intent to attract readers that work outside the realm of taxonomic research in Pentatomidae. As was pointed out in one of the Forwards (which was written by David Boethel, another entomologist with extensive experience in stink bug management) "this book is timely because, as the authors indicate, the advent and adoption of transgenic crops have highlighted the importance of pentatomids on some major crops."

The book is divided into 12 chapters, along with an Appendix, a References section containing over 700 references, and an Index. The first chapter provides a general introduction to stink bugs and discusses their taxonomic status and economic importance. It also includes a general description of stink bug life history and the nature of damage they cause to plants.

Chapter 2 covers the major crops that stink bugs are known to attack, which include soybean, cowpea, corn, sorghum, rice, wheat, alfalfa, pecan, macadamia, fruit crops, cotton, and tomato. Three tables, placed at the end of Chapter 2, cover identification of every plant host known upon which stink bug feeding and development have been observed or implied. Each table contains the same information but is alphabetized either by the plant’s common name, scientific name, or family name. My first reaction to the three tables was that they were redundant and unnecessary. Upon further reflection, I changed my mind because a thorough knowledge of host plants is critical for successful stink bug management, and not all entomologists (myself included) have a command of the nomenclature of plant species. All but the most severely botanically impaired reader should be able to determine which plants are contributing to a stink bug problem in a given agroecosystem.

Chapter 3 provides a nice key to the families of the superfamily Pentatomoidea, subfamilies of the family Pentatomidae, and species and subspecies of the subfamily Pentatominae. Included are some nice line-drawing illustrations of key characteristics used in the keys. These keys require some familiarity with external anatomy of pentatomids, but the illustrations are nicely identified and described for efficient use.

Chapters 4-11 provide a more in-depth review of important economic species, with each chapter covering a specific genus. Species include: Chapter 4 - Nezara viridula (L.); Chapter 5 - Euschistus servus (Say), E. variolarius (Palisot de Beauvois), E. tristigmus (Say), E. conspersus Uhler; Chapter 6 - Acrosternum hilare (Say); Chapter 7 - Oebalus pugnax pugnax (F.) and O. ypsilongriseus (De Geer); Chapter 8 - Chlorochroa ligata (Say) and Chlorochroa spp.; Chapter 9 - Murgantia histrionica (Hahn); Chapter 10 - Piezodorus guildinii (Westwood); and Chapter 11 - Thyanta spp. Each chapter covers information on the life history of the species as well as more detailed coverage of their interactions with specific crops. A fairly detailed account of mating behavior and the types of damage caused by feeding is provided for each species. There also is a section provided for each species that is titled "Descriptions of Immature Stages," but that section simply provides the reader with a set of references to obtain and read for further information. Although I don’t know how feasible it would have been, I would have found it useful to have a summarized description of the instars included in the chapter without the necessity of the reader having to obtain additional reference material.

Chapter 12 discusses management tactics for stink bugs. This chapter will be quite valuable for nonentomologists who work as crop consultants as well as the entomologists who are researchers and educators. Topics include biological, cultural, and chemical
control tactics. The sections on cultural and chemical control contained the most depth, probably because more research effort has been directed at both of those tactics. Not only does this chapter inventory and encapsulate the current knowledge of stink bug management, it also highlights potential research opportunities for expanding that erudition.

In summary, this book is a valuable source of information for both researchers and educators who are interested in pestiferous pentatomids. It is well written and is packaged in an attractive cover. It also should be valuable to those crop consultants who are dealing with stink bugs on a regular basis. This book is not expensive, considering its publisher. Certainly, for those interested in owning an information source that captures current knowledge of stink bug pests in major crops, its price is a bargain.

Tom A. Royer
Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078
American Entomologist
Vol. 47, No.2, Summer 2001