Bagrada hilaris is an invasive stink bug in Los Angeles since 2008. Bagrada bugs gather in large groups on cole crops, other mustard family plants, sweet alyssum, and candytuft.
Learn how to identify the Bagrada bug's eggs, nymphs, and adults from UC IPM.
- Early detection is important because Bagrada bug populations can build up quickly.
Cultural Control
- Remove mustard, kale, other cole crops, or sweet alyssum to reduce their food source.
Mechanical Control
- Create traps with crushed sweet alyssum to lure Bagrada bugs's away from mustard or cole crops.
- The chemical on regular stink bug traps will not work against Bagrada bugs.
Biological Control
- Bagrada bugs do not have natural predators in the United States.
Chemical Control
- Organic vegetable growers are likely to have better control using covers or screening to exclude bugs or by simply removing host plants from the garden.
- Research focused on managing the pest organically on commercially grown cole crops suggests that pyrethrum may suppress adults while azadirachtin and insecticidal soaps may reduce populations of nymphs.
- Use pyrethrum or pyrethroid as a last resort and only in the early morning or evening, because it is toxic to bees and other pollinators that are active during the day.
