Yellow-Spotted Stink Bug
The Yellow-Spotted Stink Bug Erthesina fullo (Thunberg, 1783), native in East and South-East Asia, was recently discovered introduced in both Europe and South America. YSSB shares many ecological traits with the devastating invader brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys), a species that has rapidly swept across Europe and North America and is causing extreme damage to specialty crops. Many cases of interception of YSSB living specimens were found in the Europe and United States. Adult yellow-spotted stink bug specimens can range in size from 18–23 mm with a large shield-shaped blackish brown body containing yellow spots and markings (Figure 1a). Sides in abdomen have alternate black and yellow markings (Figure 1a). Antenna have narrow pale band at base of segment 5 only (Figure 1b). Head and front body have the yellow middle line (Figure 1a,b).
Figure 1. Yellow-Spotted Stink Bug (modified from www.landcareresearch.co.nz). (a) dorsal view, (b) antenna, (c) ventral view, (d) nymph
Potential establishment in Washington State
The yellow spotted stink bug is native to Asia where it is found in China, Japan, Taiwan, India, and Indonesia, among others. The pest has recently been detected in South America (Brazil) and in Europe (Albania). We used ecological niche models to predict the potential distribution of E. fullo, and created a website to display predictions. We show that E. fullo has peak occurrence probability in areas with annual mean temperatures around 20°C, and that the occurrence probability increases as maximum monthly temperature reaches up to 38°C. The likelihood of occurrence decreased as annual precipitation increased, but increased with greater precipitation in the wettest and driest months. This suggests E. fullo is most suited to regions that are warm and dry and where most precipitation occurs across only a few months, such as southern North America, central and southern South America, southern Europe, southern Africa, and central and eastern Australia. Given that E. fullo is a highly mobile hitchhiking insect that travels through cargo and other containers to new areas, the potential spread of this species into new regions should be carefully monitored. Here is the potential distribution or establishment in Washington State that was based on ecological niche models, which was modified from Zhu et al. 2023.
Figure 2. Potential distributions of YSSB in Washington State.