Nutritional Value of Nutrient Source May to Lead Different Preferences of Nezara viridula

The southern green stinkbug, Nezara viridula (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) is a pest of a wide variety of crops including corn and green beans across the southern United States. Information on its preference for corn over green beans or vice versa is limited and more research should be conducted. Ten N. viridula stinkbugs were utilized in this study and allowed to choose whether to feed upon corn or green beans through a network of containers. Eight trials were conducted over a period of four days. Results suggest N. viridula stinkbugs chose green beans over corn, which could be contributed to the difference in the nutritional content of the green beans and corn. However, this is not an absolute, there are many other other variables that may have added to this result and further research should be conducted.