Praying mantis for brown marmorated stink bug
WSU Tree Fruit reports praying mantids, along with wheel bugs, seen feeding on brown marmorated stink bug nymphs and adults. There is no measure of how much they reduce stink bug numbers, and a mantis takes whatever walks past, so it is a bonus rather than a control. The natural enemy researchers expect most from is the samurai wasp, an egg parasitoid.
Before you act
The most famous beneficial insect, and one of the least useful as pest control. A mantis eats whatever it can catch, including bees, butterflies, hoverflies and other predators. The egg cases sold for gardens are Chinese mantis cases, which ARBICO says are collected in the wild, and the hatchlings scatter or eat each other. It is a welcome resident worth recognising, not something to buy. How to recognise it, what it is confused with and how to keep it around are on the full Praying mantis profile.
Other controls for brown marmorated stink bug
- Wheel bugWild predator · Wild — conserve; not sold
- Samurai waspWild egg parasitoid (not sold) · Wild — conserve; not for release (not sold; interstate movement restricted)