Heads Up on the Kudzu Bug: This pest is in Southern soybeans and headed north

摘要

Kudzu, commonly called the "vine that ate the South," has been despised in the region for more than 100 years. Now, soybean farmers there face a new foe with a similar name, the kudzu bug. The pest has spread through much of the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Mid-South. While kudzu bugs get their name because they feed on kudzu, they have a voracious appetite for soybeans as well. They feed on the plants by inserting their piercing mouth parts into the soybean leaves and stems to suck up the nutrient-laden sap.