Michael Toews, an associate professor of entomology at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ Tifton campus, received $199,876 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help find ways of controlling the invasive Megacopta cribraria, commonly known as the kudzu bug.
The insect arrived in northeastern Georgia in 2009 and also has been found in 392 U.S. counties across much of the Southeast. The kudzu bug has caused significant harm to soybean crops throughout the region.
Toews and his colleagues will evaluate various control methods, including insecticides and fundamental crop management, to see what approaches will most benefit farmers who have lost valuable time and money to the invasive pest.
