Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys of Pentatomidae)
In 1996, an anonymous packing crate from China or Japan deposited the first brown marmorated stink bug on the United States’ shores, and the first specimen of this invasive species was collected and identified two years later in Pennsylvania. Since then, the stink bug has established itself in 40 states and threatened crops up and down the East Coast.
If you’ve come into contact with the stink bug, you already understand how it poses another sort of threat for the homeowner–a threat to your sanity. These buzzing, bumbling brown bugs swarm in and out of the home, sometimes surrounding doors and covering windows by the thousands. Swat one, and you’ll know how they got their name. The resulting stench is as disgusting as it is lasting. Stink bugs are most active in the spring and fall, when they are emerging from or making their winter homes inside. But they can be found in the garden and in the house in the summer months too.
Stink bugs aren’t picky eaters, feeding on hundreds of different sorts of plants, which means it is almost impossible to starve them out. Also, a stink bug eats by piercing a plant with its proboscis, sucking out the nutrients and water (and damaging the plant in the process). This means that sprayed pesticides have no effect on these annoying and destructive bugs.
So what can you do if you find yourself overrun with stink bugs? Here are five ways to fight the stink bug war, and win:
1. The best offense is a good defense: Stink bugs get in through cracks, tears in your screens, and unsecured vents. Use silicone or silicone latex caulk to seal around windows, doors, and other openings. Repair any damaged screens. Though you should try to get this preventive work done by the late summer before the stink bugs start trying to migrate inside, any time you can make your house into a fortress against pests is a good time.
2. Fight fire with fire: The stink bug’s disgusting smell is its defense against predators. You can use odor–the pleasant odor of mint–to fight back. Mix up a spray bottle of ten or so drops of mint essential oil and plain water. Spray around door and window openings, vents, pipes, anywhere you think the stinkbugs are getting in. The smell should drive them away.
3. Fight fire with fire, take two: Dryer sheets (the more fragrant the better) when rubbed on screens once every two or three days have been shown to cut down on the stink bugs found on the treated screens by 80 percent.
4. Hand-to-hand combat: Sometimes you are left with no choice but to eliminate the bugs physically. As mentioned above, you don’t want to squash or swat at them or you’ll be soon overwhelmed with their acrid, sickening scent. Instead, try vacuuming them up, though make sure you immediately throw out the vacuum bag when you’re done, or you’ll be broadcasting that awful smell every time you sweep. Another option is to knock the bugs gently into a bowl of soapy water. They are killed instantly and the soap masks any residual scent.
5. The enemy of my enemy is my friend: Though commercial pesticides have proved ineffective against stink bugs, there is a growing body of evidence that suggests that they might have some powerful natural predators: katydids, parasitic wasps, crickets, beetles, and spiders. Most of these control stink bugs by eating their eggs. Make your garden a haven for these sort of friendly predators by planting a wild flower seed mix designed to attract beneficial insects.
Don’t let stink bugs drive you from your home. You can win the war against these destructive invasive pests–and without resorting to dangerous chemicals–by following these five tips.
Want to learn more about ecological and effective gardening? Learn more on safe ways of keeping pests away here!
