<p>An invasive Asian insect could pose a big threat to fruit and vegetable crops in Michigan.<img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/michigan_blueberry_invaders_may_2013_BODY01.jpg" alt="Cropped Images May 20st 2 2013" />Concerns over the brown marmorated stink bug's increasing presence in the state are rising as no federal or state eradication programs are yet in place. The bug was spotted in 12 additional counties two years after it first was spotted in Berrien County, according to the Detroit Free Press.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“We haven’t seen it on our farm yet, and we are hoping that we don’t,” Blake, the co-owner of Blake Farms in Armada and Almont said. “However, we are very aware of the stink bugs.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Blake said that he has “certified scouts coming out once a week who check all of our orchards with magnifying glasses.” He grows apples, peaches, strawberries and cherries on 700 acres.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“And we set traps so we can be aware of something out in the orchard that shouldn’t be there,” he said.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Entomology Professor at Michigan State University, Matthew Grieshop, said the stink bug’s spread into more of the state’s 83 counties is inevitable.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“We are in the early invasion stage,” he said, noting that 2010 crop damage by the brown marmorated stink bug in the nation’s mid-Atlantic region was horrific.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">“There were hundreds of growers who had double-digit to 100 percent losses in Pennsylvania and New Jersey because they got caught flat-footed,” Grieshop said. “It has caused millions and millions of damage.”</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013305180051" target="_new">Pest Report</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
