1. How many types of stink bugs are there?
There are over 20,000 species of stink bugs in the world. In Vietnam alone, there are hundreds of species, although no specific number has been recorded.
Many species look alike, but differ in that some are predatory hunters and others are specialized plant eaters. I'm sure not many people can tell the difference between the two.
Like many other animals, stink bugs are an essential part of the ecosystem. Many people think that stink bugs are not preyed on because they are smelly, but the opposite is true. They only release a foul odor to defend themselves when they are preyed on.
Birds often prey on stink bugs as food. I have seen quails, warblers, crested mynas, and orioles peck and devour stink bugs. Other species take these insects back to their nests and feed them to their young without fear of poisoning.
Newts also hunt these insects, rushing in to catch them from their hiding places. Toads, geckos, lizards, and spiders will also do this when they have the opportunity. In the insect group, praying mantises and digger wasps also prey on this species, and even ants don't spare them.
What do stink bugs eat? The answer is that this species is both a predator (carnivore) and a plant eater, depending on the species. But the most surprising thing is that stink bugs themselves prey on their own kind.
2. How to safely exterminate stink bugs?
We only complain about this pest damaging our plants while forgetting the contribution of the species that have wiped out 4/5 of them before they hatch. Remember, stink bugs are also a very good predator for the garden.
Stink bugs also prey on insects. If you have a passionflower vine in your garden, you can easily see up to 3 species of these insects catching pests. Species such as brown stink bugs, goose-necked stink bugs, and blind stink bugs have been confirmed to be predators, and are even mass-reared for use in biological control.
Try to tell the difference between the adults of these species, let alone their nymphs, which are almost completely different and look like many other pests. If we can't tell the difference and use radical extermination methods, can we be sure we won't kill more predators than pests? Especially since predators are always less numerous than pests, they will surely suffer the most when disaster strikes.
3. The unexpected benefits of this species
Stink bugs are also decomposers. We are quick to blame these insects for sucking and damaging fruits, but we forget their role in consuming rotten fruits, helping to speed up the decomposition process, providing food for microorganisms, supplying humus to the soil, promoting plant growth, and we are the beneficiaries. In fact, many of these insects only eat rotten fruit.
If we are more open-minded, we can also read many signs from stink bugs. Tube stink bugs are often found in bushes and grasslands corresponding to our changing gardens, while red stink bugs are often found in areas with many short-day vegetables, lemon stink bugs are found in areas with many lemons, and mosquito stink bugs are found in areas with many fruit trees. These are all signs of garden development, some excessive and some inadequate, that need to be addressed.
It should also be said that, of course, these insects will attract many predators, which will further diversify the garden. We really know how to repay our benefactors by exterminating them.
It is easy to understand why people hate these insects so much. We only see the harm they cause and not the benefits they bring. On the other hand, we do not have faith that natural predators are controlling them, because the number of bugs killed is not yet what we want.
After all, natural predators also kill stink bugs, and we kill them too, so what's the difference, right?
But the difference between natural predators and us is that natural predators know when to stop. They only prey on insects to meet their food needs, so they never wipe out this species, but on the contrary, maintain it and at the same time maintain biodiversity. When natural predators prey, the garden becomes more diverse and develops more.
>>>Read More: Interesting Facts About Ants
4. What should we do to limit stink bugs?
This does not mean that I am defending stink bugs. My own garden has been severely damaged by this species. And I always think that they need to be controlled.
On the one hand, I accept the losses because I believe in the long-term benefits. On the other hand, I am looking for ways to isolate stink bugs from the fruits and vegetables I grow. As for the cycle of life and death, it is the right of nature, and I do not care or have the capacity to interfere with it.
Limiting stink bugs is a way to protect our gardens, but it must be based on the principle of balance, maintaining and developing life. The disappearance of any species leaves an ecological gap, and immediately these two consequences occur:
- Predators will lose stink bugs as a rich and easy food source.
- The ecological gap will be filled by a new species that we do not know how to deal with. But it will be more harmful because this new species does not have a corresponding natural predator to control it.
We can also talk about a third consequence that we are not aware of at the moment, which is the value of stink bugs, either as a medicine, a food, or a raw material for some unknown production.
Finally, something that no one cares about: we have underestimated this species. They are very flexible in their food choices. Looking at their shape, we can see that the ancestors of this family were just plant-sucking insects, but now there are stink bugs that suck human blood.
The exact reason is unclear, but it is certain that they have undergone major changes and have been forced to change their food sources to survive. With the way we are doing things now, stink bugs will continue to change. Can we be sure that this time they will not become more dangerous.
Written by https://bestgardenmyway.blogspot.com//
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