The Feds are getting serious in their efforts to stop that creepy, crawly "bug from hell" that invades our homes and farmers' crops.
The federal government is committing $5.7 million toward non-chemical defenses against the brown marmorated stink bug.
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett announced the grant Friday to the Agriculture Department. The Maryland Republican has taken a leading role in pursuing solutions to what he calls "the bug from hell."
Bartlett said the money will fund research on pheromone-based traps, predatory insects and other alternatives to chemical insecticides.
Environmental regulators granted fruit growers in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia an emergency exemption to use the insecticide dinotefuran in their orchards this year.
Bartlett said the compound helped reduce crop damage but increased production costs sharply.
He said an integrated approach to pest management would allow growers to use fewer chemicals and more natural controls.
