Stinkbugs??

[luvestodizz]

Last summer I saw this funny armor shaped bug in my yard. I found out it is a stinkbug and are new invaders to the East Coast. Last week I saw 2 of them in my house. Today I saw another one. DH flushed 2 of them and I vacuumed one. I am freaking out when the warm weather comes. It;s been a cold winter and I wonder if they are hiding in our walls somewhere. DH's exterminator friend told him they probably have a nest somewhere outside. My kids and I are not going to survive alongside these bugs!

 

[shaylyn]

I'm dreading the warmer months and these bugs! They have steadily increased here in Oregon every year and are now out of control

 

[java]

Not to gross you out even more. If you see several inside there is a good chance they laid eggs inside your house! I just found one with the warm 2 days we had. Where the heck did he come from?

 

[Nancyg56]

We have them and have seen a few this winter. I hate them!

 

[Toad_Passenger]

Once you see them in your house it means they found a way to nest inside you wall somewhere for the Winter.

There is really nothing you can do about it now, but they will start to venture back outside once it warms up. During the warmer months go around outside and seal up all points of entry. They can squeeze through the tiniest crack, so if you have a brick or stucco house you have to be VERY meticulous.

All of this needs to be done by late August/Early September because that is when they will start to look to move inside for the coming colder months, and they will lay their eggs while in there.

They are a nuisance, but they pose no danger to anyone in your family...so long as you don't smoosh them and unleash their stink!

I live just South of the Allentown, PA area where scientists believe they were introduced into the United States, so we've been dealing (successfully) with them for many years now.

 

[Nancyg56]

DH insistes tahat they smell like pears. I don't care what they smell like, they freak me out!

 

[J3nn78]

I dislike them, but nothing you can do about them. At any given moment I can easily find look around and find a few. They are so gross! My sister almost ate one the other day. It was in her salad!

 

[starwood]

We had a problem this past summer and I thought we wouldn't have a problem again until warm weather. I found one in the kitchen when the temperatures were around 20 degrees. DH found another one in our bedroom the other night and he has found one at the H&R Block office he works at.

 

[bellebud]

I have a story... a friend of mine said there was a stink bug the other day in her bedroom, she daughter wanted to kill it, but mom insisted just leave the poor thing alone. Mom laid down to go to sleep, and yes... the stink bug fell off the ceiling into her open mouth! Released the stink in her mouth too! She didn't swallow the bug at least. (and I think she'll be at least catching and releasing outside from now on).

Now THAT'S a stink bug story!!

 

[kimmar067]

I have a story... a friend of mine said there was a stink bug the other day in her bedroom, she daughter wanted to kill it, but mom insisted just leave the poor thing alone. Mom laid down to go to sleep, and yes... the stink bug fell off the ceiling into her open mouth! Released the stink in her mouth too! She didn't swallow the bug at least. (and I think she'll be at least catching and releasing outside from now on).

Now THAT'S a stink bug story!!

....I DIDN"T need to read this......EW-W-W-W-W-W!!!!

 

[kimmar067]

DH insistes that they smell like pears....

...what kind of pears does your DH EAT??!?!?

 

[Amy]

Yeah, we've been dealing with the stink bugs here, too. And they can get into the SMALLEST places. DH found one IN our microwave door! He went to cook something, and there it was. Somehow it had gotten in between the 2 panes of glass in the door of the microwave. He had to take the door off the hinges, and take it apart just to get the thing out. He swears he couldn't find a hole or anything to figure out how it got in there.

I read in the paper last weekend that scientists will have a stink bug trap on the market this summer. But for some reason it will only work outdoors.

 

[Kellydelly]

Are you sure you don't have Boxelder bugs instead of stink bugs? They look similar. These bugs do not reproduce inside your home, thankfully. I always see a few when the weather gets mild. They will cover the sunny side of my house at times too at times. (I live in MI)

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG0998.html

 

[J3nn78]

Are you sure you don't have Boxelder bugs instead of stink bugs? They look similar. These bugs do not reproduce inside your home, thankfully. I always see a few when the weather gets mild. They will cover the sunny side of my house at times too at times. (I live in MI)

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG0998.html

They look nothing alike. Mine are most definitely stink bugs

http://www.ent.iastate.edu/imagegal/hemiptera/stinkbug/brown_stink_bug_adult.html

 

[Abbie]

(and I think she'll be at least catching and releasing outside from now on).

I used to do the "catch and release" too until a friend told me that they will just hibernate outside, even in the snow, until it's warm and reenter. Now I use the "catch and release and beat the heck out of it until it's dead" method.

These really took over our area last summer. We don't have a lot of mature trees on our property so I never saw many but friends in West Va would vacuum up literally thousands from inside their houses! And outside around here there are sometimes so many on the outsides of houses that it looked like the entire side of the house was moving. Ugh. And even after only seeing a few in our house over the summer, all of a sudden I am finding them in odd places in the dead of winter. I think I've seen more this winter than all of last summer!

 

[punkin]

Killed three this past week after not really seeing any the whole winter. I am dreading the warm weather and I HATE the cold.

 

[J3nn78]

I send them to a watery grave! I have already flushed 3 this morning.

 

[starwood]

I read in the paper last weekend that scientists will have a stink bug trap on the market this summer. But for some reason it will only work outdoors.

I can't wait for that. I remember when we needed the Japanese beetle traps everywhere. Put me down for 2-3 of these.

 

[mikehn]

The best way to deal with them is to just learn to coexist with them. They are here to stay and there's no practical solution to keep them from entering your home. They are going to exploit every nook and cranny and every pinhole there is to penetrate your home. Matter of fact, they already have, and when it warms up they will be crawling out of your air ducts. Just make peace with them.

 

[disney1990]

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=136418&catid=148

http://weblogs.marylandweather.com/2011/02/theyre_baaaack.html

Sorry guys, these are an invasive species that are not going away anytime soon. The problem is only going to get worse in the coming years. There is NO safe substance that can be used in your home to get rid of them.