By feeding on fruit with their piercing-sucking mouthparts, stink bugs (Pentatomidae), have caused increasingly serious quality problems in the cultivation of pome fruit in recent years. In addition of the native stink bugs, there is the real threat of the invasive Asian brown marmorated stink bug Halyomorpha halys. The main objective of this project is to develop biological and integrated control strategies against stink bugs in order to enable Flemish pome fruit growers to control this emerging serious pest in a sustainable way.

Spearheads of knowledge Converting into Impact in Practice for the protection of Flemish pome fruit cultivation against hippo bugs (SOS PENTA)

VLAIO LA-traject: HBC.2018.2224

Contact: Gertie Peusens (gertie.peusens@pcfruit.be), Tim Beliën (tim.belien@pcfruit.be)

Timing: 1/9/2019-31/8/2023

Financing: VLAIO en sectorfinanciering

Partnership: Universiteit Gent (Prof. Patrick De Clercq, Olivier Berteloot)