Beschreibung:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>In recent years, <jats:italic>Halyomorpha halys</jats:italic> (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae, Cappaeini) has become an invasive pest in North America and Europe, where it caused extensive damage to agriculture, resulting in great economic losses. Evaluating the potential of native predators in the invaded areas, ants might represent good candidates thanks to their biology, ecology, and behavior. In Italy, <jats:italic>H. halys</jats:italic> proved to be the top key pest in pear orchards, where the black garden ant, <jats:italic>Lasius niger</jats:italic> (L.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae, Lasiini), is the most abundant ant species. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predatory ability of <jats:italic>L. niger</jats:italic> on the eggs and on all the juvenile instars of <jats:italic>H. halys</jats:italic> under laboratory conditions. The results indicate that <jats:italic>L. niger</jats:italic> significantly reduces the survival of the second and third nymphal instars by 56 and 58%, respectively, but it is unable to reduce the egg hatching and the survival of the first, fourth, and fifth instars. Our preliminary results obtained in laboratory conditions suggest a possible role of the ant <jats:italic>L. niger</jats:italic> in controlling <jats:italic>H. halys</jats:italic> invasion mainly acting on the smaller and more mobile nymphal stages. The effective role of this species as potential biocontrol agents of <jats:italic>H. halys</jats:italic> in fruit orchards in association with other ant species as well as with other predatory insects is discussed.</jats:p>