First Report of Nezara viridula (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) as an Emerging Insect Pest of Maize in India

Abstract

The green stink bug Nezara viridula (Linnaeus) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) is an economic insect pest of many cultivated plants around the world.Recently, high population of green stink bug were observedin maize crop during March–May 2020 in Bihar, a leading state of maize production in India. The population changes, damage symptoms, morpho-variants of N. viridula on maize were studied during 2020 and 2021 and presented in this report. For this study, 1 m2 area were randomly selected at three places in the maize field grown at Dumraon, Bihar to record the population of N. viridula at weekly during crop period in the year 2020 and 2021. Also number of maximum adults per plants and per cobs were recorded. The adults of N. viridula were first recorded in maize field during third week of March 2020 and in the same period of year 2021. The mean maximum adults’ population of N. viridula was 43adults/ m2and 34.33 adults/ m2 observed during April 2020 and 202, respectively onmaize crop. The high population densities of the pest may be due to the migration of bugs from other field crops and native vegetation to the cultivated maize crop. During the course of the investigation, maximum 18 adult bugs per plant and 13 adult bugs per corn were recorded during fourth week of April 2020, whereas, maximum 12 adults per plant and 8 adults per cob were recorded during April 2021.The bugs were damage standing maize plants and corn by sucking saps and hindering the growth of plants, cobs as well as the developing kernels. Considering the high population densities, regular appearance of the pest and damage caused to maize crop in the state created an alarming situation for thepest management researchers of the country to develop suitable integrated pest management strategies for the management of N. viridula on maize in the near future.