National Citizen Science Brown Marmorated Stinkbug Project!

As you likely know the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) is a newly invasive insect found throughout much of the United States. The insect is both an urban pest of homes and agricultural pest of tree fruit, sweet corn, vegetable and small fruit. You are receiving this letter because the insect has not yet been verified in your state or county.

Cornell entomologists and a team of national scientists through SCRI support are working together to develop more sophisticated monitoring and management tools for this invasive insect. We are asking for your assistance toward this end.

This project plays an important role in our understanding the spread of invasive insects and most importantly, the future successful deployment of biological control efforts to manage the insect in urban and agricultural environments.

We are asking that you consider sending along the attached PDF with embedded links to your digital newsletter and posting the link of the 'National Citizen Science Project' in your Facebook page for residents of your county to post an image (for verification) and participate in the project.

The link to the Citizen Science BMSB website also provides to participants all of the information to take part in the National Citizen Science Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Project:

http://blogs.cornell.edu/jentsch/a-national-march-madness-citizen-science-project-to-find-the-brown-marmorated-stink-bug-2017/

Likewise, we are inviting all of the other 48 states also participate for us to best monitor the spread of the insect.

To do so we would like participants to verify the EDDMaps submission of the BMSB by requesting they submit a clear image of the specimen and post it into the EDDMaps link to upload the image for verification of BMSB presence in that township/county:

http://www.eddmaps.org/west/report/insects.cfm?

If need be, clear images can also be submitted to:

bmsbproject@cornell.edu

Thank you for your support. Have a productive season.