It was an absolutely false claim, but totally believable.
Early this year, a few news organizations reported that the brown marmorated stink bug was at the top of an Agriculture Department most-unwanted list, the nation's No. 1 invasive species of interest, the most-wanted fugitive among bugs.
As it turned out, the Agriculture Department had no such list. An apologetic spokesman said he misunderstood a scientist in the department and passed faulty information to reporters. But that doesn't mean the agency isn't out to kill this crop-munching pest from Asia that recently expanded to 40 states since it was first spotted in Pennsylvania 15 years ago.