Stink Bugs - I can't take it anymore

Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs, we are infested with them, and I can't stand it anymore. I'm seriously thinking about moving. But what good will it do? They'll infest the whole country in the next decade or two. They are driving me insane.

For those of you who might not be aware of the looming ecological disaster, here's the background:

The brown marmorated stink bug, an insect not previously seen on our continent, has apparently been accidentally introduced into eastern Pennsylvania. It was first collected in September of 1998 in Allentown, but probably arrived several years earlier. As of March 2010, Halyomorpha halys has been recorded from the following 37 counties, although it is probable that they are in all counties:

Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Berks, Blair, Bucks, Butler, Cambria, Carbon, Centre, Chester, Clinton, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Franklin, Indiana, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Mercer, Mifflin, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton, Northumberland, Perry, Philadelphia, Pike, Snyder, Washington, Westmoreland and York

It is also recorded from many other states such as: Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. This true bug in the insect family Pentatomidae is known as an agricultural pest in its native range of China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. It becomes a nuisance pest both indoors and out when it is attracted to the outside of houses on warm fall days in search of protected, overwintering sites. It occasionally reappears during warmer sunny periods throughout the winter, and again as it emerges in the spring.

ento.psu.edu...

I'm within 15 miles of the epicenter of where these things first showed up. It's absolutely unbearable. It keeps getting worse year after year.

Read up on them, because before you know it, they'll be in your neck of the woods and you'll be overrun too.

Yup,I see these sometimes and also hate'em. I learned fast not to smash them due to the stench they give off.

I try to catch them live and flush them.

Seriously though,they are a pest in every sense of the word.

We are overrun here. I've killed at least a dozen so far tonight. I can't open the windows, I can't turn on the a.c., I can't open the front door without getting dive bombed.

That sounds really awful. I've never encountered a stink bug before, what do they smell like? Here in CA houses get overrun with these ants that give off a really bad, almost citrus smell when you squish them. Almost impossible to get rid off too, especially during the rainy season. I've even had them invade the bathroom, even though there's nothing edible in there.

Originally posted by minute2midnight
We are overrun here. I've killed at least a dozen so far tonight. I can't open the windows, I can't turn on the a.c., I can't open the front door without getting dive bombed.

Why can't you turn on the AC?

For those who have a problem with these insects, now you know how other life forms probably feel about us. They are doing nothing compared to what we do.

That sounds just awful! Maybe there is an animal that could be introduced to control the population of these bugs? Of course, that could cause a whole new set of problems ala the lady who swalled a fly...

I saw a cockroach for the first time the other day, it was the biggest insect I've ever seen. It crawled in to the women's bathroom at the office building I work in. Some customers showed up, so I planned on hunting it down after I serviced them.

Of course the 2 women ask if they can borrow the bathroom key. I sat in my office with a cheshire sized grin on my face, just waiting to hear them scream, which they did.

reply to post by minute2midnight


I know, stink bugs are a pain and a menace and stink, etc. but they are manageable:

Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs

Management Before Bugs Enter a Building: Mechanical exclusion is the best method to keep stink bugs from entering homes and buildings. Cracks around windows, doors, siding, utility pipes, behind chimneys, and underneath the wood fascia and other openings should be sealed with good quality silicone or silicone-latex caulk. Damaged screens on doors and windows should be repaired or replaced. Exterior applications of insecticides may offer some relief from infestations where the task of completely sealing the exterior is difficult or impossible. Applications should consist of a synthetic pyrethroid (i.e. deltamethrin, cyfluthrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, cypermethrin, sumithrin or tralomethrin) and should be applied by a licensed pest control operator in the fall just prior to bug congregation. Unfortunately, because insecticides are broken down by sunlight, the residual effect of the material will be greatly decreased and may not kill the insects much beyond several days or a week.

I'd recommend buying something like Ortho's Home Defense perimeter spray and just spray it at the base of your house and around the doors and windows.

It really works well and has few if any side effects!

On a different note, these occasional pests are just that, seen one year and not the next. I would rate these buggers next to McKinley bugs that come and go in the midwest. In a bad year they are intolerable, a couple of years later they are nearly gone.

I found this funny (and educational!) video about stink bugs, I thought you all might like.

excuse me

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

erm i feel bad for you

I got this on-line (cut paste is faster than typing it all out) meaning - I've used all these remedies and they seem to work really well. I live in an area that has a real infestation of these gross little things and like I said i've had some measured success with this methods!

It's all pretty high maintence but at least it's natural.

Hang in there and Good luck to you!

Garlic

1. Garlic emits an odor that repels many insects, including stink bugs. In a spray bottle, mix a solution of 2 cups water and 4 tsps garlic powder. Spray this solution onto plant leaves, soil, doorways and any other area that stink bugs tend to migrate to. Repeat every two to three days to keep stink bugs at bay.

Mint

2. Mint is another strong herb that will keep stink bugs from polluting your home and lawn. In a spray bottle, mix a solution of 2 cups water and 10 drops of mint essential oil (or 2 tsps of ground mint leaves). Spray this solution onto doorways, plant leaves and soil to keep stink bugs from migrating to your lawn.

Catnip

3. Catnip also repels stink bugs. Grow catnip in your garden or purchase from your local grocery store. If purchasing catnip powder, simply sprinkle around the garden and home to keep stink bugs from nesting near your home.

Dish Detergent

4. You can create your own insecticidal soap by simply mixing 2 cups of water and 10 drops of liquid dish detergent in a spray bottle. Spray this solution onto plant leaves, doorways and window sills. The dish detergent also works as an adhesive, sticking to plant leaves and allowing the effects to last longer. Repeat every few days, as necessary, to keep stink bugs from infesting your lawn.

link

peace

Originally posted by silo13

Catnip

3. Catnip also repels stink bugs. Grow catnip in your garden or purchase from your local grocery store. If purchasing catnip powder, simply sprinkle around the garden and home to keep stink bugs from nesting near your home.

Yeah, but what if you end up with cats nesting near your home?
Sure, they're cute and fuzzy, but the "surprises" they bury in your garden can be a little off-putting if you're a gardener...

I was also laughing at the catnip thing. One of my cats loves catnip so much, if I sprinkled ANY of it near the house, he would go insane. He is an indoor cat, too! I could see him now, jumping through a closed window with the "urge".

Also, for the above poster talking about ants in the bathroom, toothpaste is probably the culprit. If any is in the sink, they will flock to it.

Peace, Love, and Rock and Roll,
FCL

Those Marmorated have been showing up at my place too. every year we get more of them and they seem always bigger too. i had some eggs laid in a puff chair i have outside last week, nasty stuff. Gonna try to get a picture today, also thanks for the management tips guys... bytheway I live in Brazil, Sao Paulo, so i guess it is a bit bigger than previously thought.

Ah those Stink bugs are really cool why would anybody want to kill them its nature leave the poor things alone. Think of all the pesticides human's in general spray on insects and soil, don't you think its about time you guys are getting back what you have done to unto others, you shall have done unto you? Hint hint*

("Do not do to others what would anger you if done to you by others")


[edit on 22-5-2010 by DClairvoyant]

Originally posted by DClairvoyant
don't you think its about time you guys are getting back what you have done to unto others, you shall have done unto you? Hint hint*

I guess. Then again, its the stink bugs who are invading and stinking up their property, so I guess you could say that the bugs are the ones on the receiving end of the payback when someone douses them with a can of Raid

I'm right there with you all -- the walls of my house are covered with them.

For everyone saying: "Oh the poor things", "now you know how they feel about us", etc., keep this in mind:

They were brought into Eastern Pennsylvania by a person and are therefore not naturally supposed to be here.

I find that there is a huge distinction between invading an animal's territory and then complaining: i.e. building a house in the woods and then chasing out all the bears, versus a person upsetting the balance of nature which then would require human intervention in order to bring back the balance: i.e. stink bugs in the northeast & also pythons in the Florida Everglades....

We have lost of stink bugs here and when I find one in my house I just take it back outside with my bare hands but I can`t smell anything.
As far as the catnip is concerned that doesn`t even work on my cat!

But if you have any tips for keeping those black cockroaches out of my house I would be very very grateful.

[edit on 22/5/10 by sandri_90]

Originally posted by lpowell0627
I'm right there with you all -- the walls of my house are covered with them.

For everyone saying: "Oh the poor things", "now you know how they feel about us", etc., keep this in mind:

They were brought into Eastern Pennsylvania by a person and are therefore not naturally supposed to be here.

I find that there is a huge distinction between invading an animal's territory and then complaining: i.e. building a house in the woods and then chasing out all the bears, versus a person upsetting the balance of nature which then would require human intervention in order to bring back the balance: i.e. stink bugs in the northeast & also pythons in the Florida Everglades....

We have these stink bugs in England in the UK and their cool little dudes, they come in all different colours and I always wanted to know what they were called. These stink bugs have been in the UK ever since I was a kid they've been here for decades

For those of you comparing these to 'regular' stink bugs, these are not the same.

We have regular shield type stink bugs here as well. Regular stink bugs are non intrusive. The problem isn't outside so much. It's inside. These asian stink bugs invade your home. Completely different.

Once they decide they want to take over, it's too late. They get into the walls, attic, baseboards, windows. You can't use anything to kill them en masse because the scent they give off the dead ones attracts even more. Your home is 'marked' as a nesting area.

These are not seasonal. It has gotten worse every year for the last decade. In the fall it's even worse, hundreds of them.