Stink bug campaign raises public awareness

A joint campaign between KVH, MPI and PipFruit NZ to raise public awareness of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) has resulted in several people contacting KVH with suspected sightings. Thankfully, none of these have been confirmed as the BMSB. However, its encouraging people are proactively keeping an eye out for them.

Bay of Plenty media have also picked up on the campaign and run a story to help raise local awareness – click here.

The BMSB is very similar to stink bugs already common in New Zealand. A good resource comparing the BMSB with other common stink bugs can be found on the BMSB page on the MPI website here.

Keeping BMSB out of NZ remains a real challenge and success depends on our ability to detect it as early as possible.

Know what BMSB looks like and educate your friends and family. The key distinguishing features of the BMSB are:

• Its size (14–17mm)
• white banding on the antennae
• alternate black and white markings on the abdomen.

If you think you have seen BMSB, catch it and call the MPI pest and disease hotline on 0800 80 99 66.

Matt Dyck, KVH Biosecurity