The Changhua County Government has cut short a reward scheme aimed at reducing the lychee giant stink bug population after it reached double its goal in little over one month.
To control the major agricultural pest, county governments every year offer money for the capture and return of stink bug eggs.
In Changhua County, officials offered NT$5 for each leaf returned that contained at least 10 to 14 eggs.
Photo courtesy of Changhua County Government
The county government had planned to collect 132,000 leaves from the start of the program on Feb. 18 to its end on May 27, but by Friday had already surpassed 260,000 leaves, it said.
In light of the enthusiastic response, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine on Friday ordered local governments to cease all reward schemes.
Changhua County gave residents until 4pm yesterday to collect their money and until today to drop off stink bug eggs.
In Fenyuan Township (芬園), which has more than 400 hectares of lychee fields, about a dozen people arrived at the township office early yesterday to collect their rewards before the deadline.
Of them, three brought bags containing at least 1,000 leaves each, earning them NT$5,000.
The township has led the county two years in a row, turning in 53,000 leaves last year and more than 50,000 this year as of Sunday.
Largely to thank for the record numbers is one local woman, who contributed half of the township’s entire haul.
Local officials said the woman, surnamed Chang (張), would keep returning with full bags, earning NT$150,000 after turning in 30,000 leaves.
However, Chang was not the only expert stink bug bounty hunter.
Data from the county’s Department of Agriculture showed that more than NT$350,000 in rewards were distributed in 2019 for stink bug eggs, more than NT$50,000 of which went to one person.
Last year, a collector earned nearly NT$100,000 from the scheme, data showed.
Meanwhile in Taichung, the Taiping District Office on Sunday said it plans to release a natural enemy of the lychee giant stink bug in Yongcheng Park (永成公園) in a bid to control their population.
There are a number of ways to eradicate the stink bugs, including pesticides, pruning, and other physical and biological measures, office Director Hsu Kuei-fang (許貴芳) said.
One method involves releasing the ant-like Anastatus formosanus, a species of wasp endemic to Taiwan that is parasitic to agricultural pests such as the lychee stink bug, but does not sting or bite humans, Hsu said.
The wasp lays its eggs in stink bug eggs, feeding on the nutrients inside before splitting them open to escape after gestation, keeping the stink bug eggs from maturing.
The office plans to release more than 7,000 of the wasps in three stages, Hsu said.
Hopefully through this method, visitors would be able to enjoy the park without the risk of encountering stink bugs, Hsu added.
Additional reporting by Tang Shih-ming and Chen Chien-chih
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
RSS