Friday, November 6, 2009

New Pest - Megacopta cribraria (Bean plataspid) found on kudzu in Georgia

USDA-ARS Systematic Entomology Laboratory confirms Megacopta cribraria (Fabricius), a Plataspidae bug with the common name, Bean plataspid, was found on kudzu plants and in large numbers on structures in Winder, Barrow County, Georgia. The specimens were submitted by the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Science.
This is a new US record.

Tthe species is known from China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and southward into southeast Asia and India. It feeds primarily on legumes such as garden beans (Phaseolus sp.) and soybeans.
For more information: http://www.caes.uga.edu/Applications/attachments/files/PestAlertForCounties.pdf and http://georgiafaces.caes.uga.edu/storypage.cfm?storyid=3868