BLACKVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Kudzu — the “plant that ate the South” — has finally met a pest that’s just as voracious. Trouble is, the so-called “kudzu bug” is also fond of a crop that is big money for American farmers: soybeans.
Rather than feeding on the pods or leaves, as corn ear worms and common stinkbugs do, kudzu bugs attack the stems and leaf petioles, literally draining the life out of the soybeans. The bug is still too new for experts to have come up with the most effective spraying regimen.
 
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