Damage by the green-belly stink bug, Dichelops furcatus (F.) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) to wheat plants on different phenological stages of development

Damage by the green-belly stink bug, Dichelops furcatus (F.) to wheat plants on different phenological stages of development was evaluated in the greenhouse and in the field in 2013, at Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil at the Embrapa Wheat Research Center. In the greenhouse, potted plants (2 per vase) of cv. BRS Parrudo were infested for 16 days during the vegetative period (plants 25 cm of height) and during booting, with 0, 2, 4, and 8 stink bugs/vase. In the field, cages (1 m x 1.5 m) covered with net and containing one row of plants 1 m long were infested during the vegetative period (18 days) and during the hard (fully developed) seed stage with 0, 2, 4, 8  and 16 stink bugs/cage. Results indicated that in the greenhouse stink bug damage did not reduce seed yield during the vegetative period, but seed yield was significantly reduced with 4 stink bugs/vase during booting. The seed head size and the tillers height, however, were significantly reduced with infestations starting with 2 stink bugs/vase. In the field, seed yield was significantly reduced with 16 stink bugs/m during the vegetative period; infestations during the hard seed stage did not affect seed yield.