Samurai Wasps Say 'Smell Ya Later, Stink Bugs'

Can anything stop this stinkbug? Oh what, it doesn't look so bad? Think again. The brown marmorated stinkbug is a fearsome invader. A relentless force, wreaking havoc on fields and orchards across the country. These stinkbugs are originally from Asia, but probably made it to the U.S. as stowaways in shipping containers a few decades ago. Marmorated, by the way, means marbled. See that pattern on their backs? They have a huge appetite, eating just about any kind of fruit or vegetable out there. They use this, a long proboscis, to pierce the skin. It makes a tiny hole. Dainty eater, you might think? Nope. Underneath, it's squirting in chemicals to dissolve the fruit. Then it sips up the juices, like a smoothie. The fruit looks okay on the outside, but now it's ruined, rotting on the inside. Stinkbugs can even pierce the hard shell of a hazelnut. Just squish them, you think? Yeah, you don't want to do that. They genuinely stink. When disturbed, they can release an olfactory bomb from small glands. The smell? Well, some people say it's like dirty socks or rotting cilantro. These stinkbugs have spread to 44 states now. And, oh yeah, in the winter, they might just show up in your house where it's warm. What could possibly stand up to them? Hello, samurai wasp. This tiny wasp, also from Asia, is an old enemy of stinkbugs. It unleashes a stealth attack. A female wasp finds a mass of stinkbug eggs. Then, one by one, she lays one of her own inside them. The parasitic wasp larva grows secretly inside. Feasting on a tasty egg breakfast until the developing stinkbug is no more. Then, the grown-up wasps chew their way out, nibbling the edges away like fingernail clippings. In their native range in Asia, 60 to 90 percent of stinkbug eggs are parasitized this way, keeping them in check. So researchers in the U.S. want to recruit the wasps, as long as they don't become a pest, too. The wasps have already been found in Oregon, so scientists at Oregon State University are studying them as a kind of biological control. After all, using wasps is targeted, since they primarily go after brown marmorated stinkbugs. Maybe someday, they could release the wasps in places where there are lots of stinkbugs. Today, farmers use pesticides, but that can kill lots of other helpful organisms. Researchers know that sometimes your enemy's enemy is your friend. So soon, the samurai wasp could be doing its part to beat back the stinkbug onslaught one egg at a time. Hey there, Deep Peeps. It's Lauren. So guess what? There are some truly amazing creatures in Oaxaca, Mexico. And we want to go film them. But we need your support to get there. Can you help us? Head to Patreon. The link is in the description. Thanks!