Where Are Stink Bugs From?
Oddly enough, stink bugs, also known as brown marmorated stink bugs, are invasive species that originated in Asia. The first sightings of the stink bug in the US can be traced back to 1998. It most likely hitched a ride in packing crates on a shipping container. The first specimen was collected in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Over time these pests slowly made their way across the country, invading the states of Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Oregon, Indiana, Michigan, and Minnesota by 2010. Because the stink bug has almost no natural predators, they have been able to spread at an extremely high rate and can be found in most US states.
Stink Bugs and Agriculture
Stink bugs are extremely damaging to agriculture as they feed on a variety of fruits and vegetables that are grown across the Eastern United States. Apples, apricots, Asian pears, cherries, corn, grapes, lima beans, peaches, peppers, tomatoes, and soybeans are just a few of the many plants they eat.
Because they do not rely on specific plants to live, they often go from crop to crop, which makes them very destructive.
They feed by puncturing plant tissue with their proboscis to extract a plant's fluids. This causes the plant to lose fluid and can decimate a plant's ability to fruit or make seeds. When this is extrapolated across an entire crop, it is easy to see why farmers are so adamant about eradicating stink bug infestations.
Stink Bugs Have Few True Predators
Due to the way that stink bugs arrived in the United States, no true natural predators came with them. However, there are a few native predators that feed on stink bugs, including predatory stink bugs, assassin bugs, and egg parasitoids.
Parasitic wasps are thought to go after stink bug eggs and nymphs, and some animals may eat stink bugs by accident. None of these predators put a real dent in the stink bug population.
Stink Bugs and Cilantro?
If there is one thing that we can all agree on, stink bugs stink; but what exactly do they smell like? If you survey a room full of people, you are likely to get many very different answers. This pest has a strong stench that has been compared to cilantro as well as woody, greasy, or akin to burnt tires.
Some individuals even go so far as to say that the smell is acridly sweet, ammonia-like, or skunk-like. Fun fact, stink bugs and cilantro have a common chemical compound present in their makeup.
Stink bugs emit this awful odor when they are in danger, giving them a chance to get away while a potential predator is reeling from the awful smell. Because of how a stink bug stores its chemical defense mechanism, be careful not to crush them as this will release its odor. Oddly enough, this chemical can be toxic and irritating to the skin and eyes.
Why Are They So Annoying?
Stink bugs hate the cold and prefer the warmth of the indoors to survive during their hibernation. Therefore they will enter homes through soffits, under siding, around windows and door frames, or any way that they can fit inside of a house.
There have been cases where tens of thousands of stink bugs have been found hibernating in a single house. Horrific right? Aside from invading your home through every open orifice possible, sometimes they will wake up from their hibernation and clumsily fly around heat and light sources.
How to Get Rid of and Prevent Stink Bugs
It may seem like an impossibility, but stink bug infestations can be prevented. The most straightforward way to keep them out of your home is to simply seal all of the cracks and openings that stink bugs can squeeze through.
In addition to prepping your house, hiring a professional pest control company can go a long way when it comes to getting rid of and preventing stink bugs.
If you are experiencing a stink bug infestation or are worried about them invading your home this fall, Rid-A-Bug can help. With over 50 years of experience, we know how to deal with even the most severe pest infestations.