De novo assembly and comparative transcriptomics of the soybean stink bug complex members Edessa meditabunda, Piezodorus guildinii, and Diceraeus furcatus

The stink bug complex (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) includes insects known by its tendency to release a bad odor when disturbed or when crushed. Stink bugs are phytophagous insects considered major pests of crops worldwide, especially in the Neotropical Region that concentrates the largest total production of basic agricultural commodities such as soybean, maize, cotton, rice, and wheat (Panizzi et al., 2022). Argentina is the fourth largest world soybean producer with 13.809.328 ha cultivated in 2021, representing about 12.5% of worldwide soybean cultivated area (source: http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data). The more frequent species within the stink bug complex found in the Argentinean core area of soybean production (provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, and Cordoba) are the southern green stink bug Nezara viridula (Linnaeus), the brown-winged stink bug Edessa meditabunda (Fabricius), the redbanded stink bug Piezodorus guildinii (Westwood), and the green-belly stink bug Diceraeus furcatus (F.) (Sosa and Gamundi, 2008; Jacobi et al., 2022; Balbi et al., 2023).