The bagrada bug: a serious threat after transplanting

The bagrada stink bug is an important pest worldwide, and can cause severe economic losses for brassica farmers, warns Bill Kerr.

- Bill Kerr

Most cabbage farmers will have experienced damage to their crop from the bagrada bug (Bagrada hilaris) at one time or another. This manifests in light, irregular blotches towards the leaf margins. Severe infestations result in stunted plants, yellowed leaves with a rough texture, and death of the growing point. This causes the plant to produce multiple growing points, which then form very small and unmarketable heads.

B. hilaris particularly favours newly planted seedlings, and inflict the most damage here. It also prefers more pungent plants, which is why plants on the edge of a land, which are often water-stressed, tend to attract the bug in numbers.