Stink Bugs

[maxx]

Anyone else here having trouble with the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug? Coming up on that time of year where they start trying to get into the house. I first discovered these filthy things a couple years ago and started researching back then.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug — Entomology — Penn State University

This plague most likely started here in PA. The things walk right through most household sprays like Raid...so spraying doors and windows don't do much. If you haven't been hit with them yet...you will. Seriously considering spraying some 100mg nic juice to see what it does....since nicotine in high concentrations is an insectacide.

 

[pimpenstein]

tell the truth i dont think ive seen a stinkbug all year. but the spider and fly population seems to be outrageous this year. seeing a lot more reptiles this year too, giant toads under the porch, garter snakes under the steps and bullfrogs in the driveway after a good rain. nature is a wonderful thing, more flys = more things to eat the flys

 

[beebopnjazz]

Yeah - damn stink bugs. Read an article about 5 or 6 years ago about a small town in Virginia that was really hit hard by these little .......s. The article said we'd have them all over the country soon enough. The following year I saw them - accused my son of bringing home a "hitchhiker" (he's a roofer). Stupid, annoying bugs to boot; running into walls, lights, kind of like Japanese Beetles/June Bugs - dumb, dumb, dumb.

The population this summer hasn't been too bad - but I know they are there.....they nest under the roof - stink when you kill them and if you come across a large number (in your roof) they stink while still living too.

 

[maxx]

It's an introduced species from China (I blame Wal-mart)...most likely from a shipping container. No natural enemies here in the states. Birds don't want them and I have seen spiders ignore them when they get caught in a web. They will start trying to get into the house for winter around this time...but it has been hot, so they are a little behind schedule. First cold nights we get....and the siege begins. I find that the best weapon I have is a shop vac, but that is after they get in. I'm looking for something to stop them before that. Damn things swim through puddles of poison and just keep going.

 

[Princessdee]

Not looking forward to the coming invasion. Lat year my dog decided one would be a good snack and vomited for 30 minutes. A Great Dane can make a HUGE mess in a short time

If you come up with something that would keep them out and not kill my dogs I'd be ever so grateful

I try to grab them as soon as I see them, but take some advice. Use double paper towels. The smell will go thru one and it'll take industrial clean to get it off your hands.

 

[maxx]

I've tried just about every chemical. Some will eventually kill them, but it takes hours or days...and you have to hit them directly with it. I feel bad for some of those who are getting dozens everyday. I get one or two a day or so during the first few weeks of September until the first frost. I have fairly tight windows and doors...but still some gaps. Was a very buggy summer and not wanting to to do daily battle with these things. They get in and hide for weeks. Then get a warm day in December...and they wake up and start buzzing around the house. They seem attracted to light just like other fliers, so thinking about setting up a bug zapper indoors to attract those that got by me at the door. Might be worth a try.....

 

[beebopnjazz]

Wonder if Diatomaceous earth would work?

 

[AlanFox]

I hate those things too.

How to Get Rid of Stink Bugs and kill Stink Bugs in your Home and Garden | eHow.com

Excerpt:

Resort to the right toxic insecticides if you have to. There are insecticide sprays and dusts you can use to fight stink bugs, unfortunately the hard covered adults can be hard to kill. Because they feed on internal plant juices, topical stomach poisons sprayed on the plant surface won't kill them. Contact insecticides including Carbaryl, Permethrins, and Sabadilla, are effective, especially against the young nymphs. Malathion, Pyrethrin, and Endosulfan based pesticides have all been shown to kill stink bugs. Neem oil has been found to have little effect on stink bugs. Diatomaceous earth will kill stink bugs and there are products that contain it along with Permethrins for a double knockdown. Read and follow all label warnings and directions when using insecticides and reapply them as called for to control stink bugs. Nicotine will also kill stink bugs when sprayed on them. To make your own spray crush up about 10 cigarettes in a half gallon of water and let it sit over night. Strain the solution through some cheesecloth saving the liquid and adding a teaspoon of dish soap to it. This can be sprayed on plants and it will kill stink bugs quickly, just be sure to thoroughly wash any edibles you get it on and to not get it on yourself. Insecticidal soaps will also work on stink bugs but be careful if you try to use regular liquid soaps. Some dish washing or hand soaps can be too strong and can burn plants.

 

[maxx]

What we really need is a chemical barrier. Spray some Raid across a threshhold and for days you can see bugs walk up to the line and turn around. Not stink bugs though....walk right over the line even if it is still wet. Once inside, I still prefer the Shop-vac. I have an indoor cat and don't like to spray inside much. Need to catch these guys at the border....so-to-speak.

 

[Candyhands]

Saw a news story in which an expert said this summer was so hot, TWO generations of stink bugs were born at once!

 

[beebopnjazz]

I've been battling them all day - guess that explains it - two generations!

 

[maxx]

I have taken to just duct taping all the windows closed and will remove it after this siege is over....maybe sometime next month. As for the ones that still get in, I walk around with a cup of very soapy water and a paint brush. Hold the cup under them and brush them down into it. They die a slow death as they drown....which is nice. Local media has a story everyday on them it seems. Some people are completely freaking out as they get hundreds of the filthy things inside. One poor woman had to start taking tranquilizers to deal with it.

At least another week or longer to go. We need an early frost....

 

[redx]

I actually just seen my first one tonight... Only time I've really opened my window's and not had the a/c on...

 

[maxx]

Cold front moving through tonight. That should slow them down. They are most active when it is warm....like it has been the past week. Don't think the siege is over yet, but instead of 20 or 30 hanging around each door...maybe it will be just a couple trying to get in. Everything went wrong this year according the bug experts. We had a wet winter, long, dry, hot summer, and the warm temps stayed late this year. I'll be better prepared next year with new screens and such....and lots of rolls of duct tape.

I was quite busy on all bug fronts this year and looking forward to cool weather. Fought ants trying to get into my kitchen, lawn grubs eating all my grass and finally the stink bugs. I dumped enough poison around here to be declared a biohazard. I would expect this if I lived out in the sticks...but hell, I am suburban.

 

[Josh the Happy]

One word for the ones that get in:

Shop-Vac (ok kinda two words) works great for moths, beetles, or basically any little critter that gets into your home that you just don,t want in there.
5 HP 12 gallon, i pretty sure it could even get small mice.

 

[Princessdee]

Hubby did that night before last. Got tired of squishing them in tissue and just got out the shop vac. I think they're still alive in the bag. It stinks. I poured some perfume on some baking soda and sucked that up. It's better now. (Those bugs are wearing my most expensive perfume, tho)

 

[maxx]

Big reduction in the numbers this morning when I went outside (I still allow myself a real cigarette in the mornings with my coffee). Lately there was usually a dozen or so hanging around the screen door. Today, just a couple. But they are getting active now, as I type, with the sun warming things up. We need an early killing frost to put a true end to this plague. Headed down into the 40's tonight in the Pittsburgh area....so that should slow them down even more.

I empty my shop vac everyday....even if there are only a few bugs in there. Their stink will permeate the paper/fiber filter and then your vac will smell everytime you turn it on....even when empty. Gotta love those shop vacs....

 

[Jammin]

I haven't seen a stinkbug all year, I am in DC, but ironcially got an email from a friend who lives in PA the other day who was griping about the masses of stinkbugs tyring to get in his house! I guess this is a PA thing.

 

[maxx]

They have been confirmed in these states so far: Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, and Oregon. But I have also heard Florida and California. PA is infested more than most, though...since it started in Allentown supposedly about 15 years ago. This year was the first time farmers reported significant damage to crops, so the story is getting much more attention now.

No natural predators in the US....so likely to be nationwide in a decade or so.

 

[ec!gg]

Yep I can't stand these stink bugs... I just found another one in my house... Errr