Fall is the time of year when you are most likely to encounter stink bugs and the best time of year for preventing them from entering your home. Every attempt should be made to seal up any cracks or crevices around siding, windows and doors. Repair screens and vents. All homes have some degree of ventilation that just can’t be sealed up. Preventitive exterior applications of a residual pesticide can help control stink buds and reduce the chance that they enter your home.  Once inside they are very difficult to detect and treat.

1.       THEY HAVEN’T BEEN HERE THAT LONG – The brown marmorated stink bug is from Asia. It was first reported in the United States in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1998. This is condidered extremely new in the pest world.

2.       WHAT IS “MARMORATED?” – The word marmorated” refers to its marble-like coloration. There are other versions of the stink bug and shield bug.

3.       THEIR SMELL IS LIKE CILANTRO – The “stink” that stink bugs give off when they are disturbed is made up of the same components as cilantro. If you don’t like the smell, try not to smash them on your walls.

4.       THEY STICK TOGETHER – Stink bugs like to be together. They jam themselves into tight spots like the inside of the air filter on your lawn mower. When stinkbugs find a suitable place to spend the winter they release an aggregation pheromone to let others know about it. This pheromone is not the same chemical that gives them their foul odor. Some people believe if you smash them others will come.

5.       THEY CAN MAKE YOU ITCH – Stink bugs cause dermatitis in people when scratched by the sharp edges of a stink bug’s shell or exoskeleton. The result is swollen, reddened, itchy skin. Having a stink bug under your clothing and crawling up your arm or leg is most unpleasant, particularly if you are standing in line at a store or pumping gas into your car. But they do not bite.

6.       SOME STINK BUGS WILL ATTACK OTHER INSECTS – Many stinkbugs sink their needles into plants. They use their needles to feed the sap or juice that the plants use to transport and store food. Some stinkbugs stick their beaks into other insects and drink their body fluids. When not feeding, stinkbugs hold their beaks underneath their bodies between their front legs.

7.       THEIR EGGS ARE ORGANIZED – Adults emerge from their overwintering sites in the spring, usually in early May. After they feed for about two weeks, they mate, and the females begin to lay eggs. Eggs are laid in clusters of about 28 eggs on the undersides of leaves from June to August. A single female can lay up to 400 eggs. Eggs hatch in three to seven days.

8.       THEY LIKE YELLOW – They are attracted to the color yellow. If you put something yellow in your yard away from your house, it may keep the stink bugs outside and away from you. Or it may attract more.

9.       BIRDS ARE JUST NOW STARTING TO EAT THEM – Stink bugs do not have a natural predator here in the USA, but things are starting to change. At first, birds wouldn’t eat them, but they are starting to now. Lizards, too, have been seen munching on them. They are not very pleasant to taste.

10.    THEY HAVE CAUSED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN DAMAGE – By 2010, the population exploded and was blamed for $37 million in losses for apple growers in the Mid-Atlantic region alone. USDA researchers say it will feed on some 300 different plants.

All County can perform a Home/Pest Evaluation if you have any further questions or concerns about your home and how it relates to pest prevention. Our Home Protection Plan is the best pest protection for you, your family and your home. We offer complete Fall Stink Bug service programs.