The spined soldier bug, Podisus maculiventris (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), can feed on more than 70 species of insects including immature stages of Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. P. maculiventris is native to North America and there was an attempt and failure to import P. maculiventris to South Korea in 1970s. Recently, P. maculiventris was successfully re-introduced to South Korea and is being contained and reared in a quarantined facility at the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration, South Korea. In this presentation, we will introduce this new biological control agent targeting major lepidopteran and coleopteran pests in agriculture and forest. In addition, current research on mass rearing and aerial release of P. maculiventris using drones will be presented.

• Yong-Lak Park(Department of Entomology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration, Wanju, South Korea)
• Srikanth Gururajan(Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA)
• Chang-Gyu Park(National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration, Wanju, South Korea, Department of Insect Industry, Korea National College of Agriculture and Fisheries, Wanju, South Korea)
• Jum Rae Cho(National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration, Wanju, South Korea)
• Bo Yoon Seo(National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration, Wanju, South Korea)