Rice stink bugs spread across 37 Japan prefectures as damage mounts

TOKYO - Rice stink bugs, a native species in Japan that feeds on rice, are rapidly increasing nationwide and causing widespread damage, with experts and the government warning that their habitat could further expand as global warming enables more of them to survive winter.

The Japanese government has confirmed the bug's presence in 37 of the nation's 47 prefectures, stretching from the Kyushu region in the southwest to Fukushima Prefecture in the northeast.