Cold Climate Gardening

223 responses so far ↓

• 1 Carol // Mar 11, 2007 at 2:17 pm

  No stinkbugs in my house this winter, as far as I know. I’ve seen just a few spiders. But my house is 10 years old, relatively new construction compared to your house, so it hopefully has fewer cracks and crevices for bugs to get in from the outside. Plus, I seldom take my houseplants outdoors for the summer.

• 2 Betsy // Mar 11, 2007 at 8:18 pm

  I’m in North Idaho in a 30 year old house and we have alot of stink bugs. Some look like your sheild kind, and some are longer and skinnier. But last year we had alot more than this year. We’re nice to them, too. We just relocate them. -Betsy

• 3 Kathy Purdy // Mar 11, 2007 at 8:42 pm

  Betsy, I had never heard of stinkbugs in houses before this winter. I don’t know what species mine is, as I never thought to look.

  Carol, I don’t take most houseplants out either, but I have a rosemary I winter over and it really appreciates being outdoors. Then in the winter it goes up to my bedroom to take advantage of one of the two southern facing windows not obscured by the porch. Now that I know at least some species of stinkbugs like to winter over in houses, I really don’t think one came in on the rosemary. That just had been my first guess.

• 4 The brown marmorated stink bug | My Gardening Home Blog // Mar 12, 2007 at 7:30 am

  […] Kathy Purdy Filed under Gardening News […]

• 5 Betsy // Mar 12, 2007 at 10:12 am

  Hi Kathy! We had so many last year, so my partner took off all the outside window moldings and there were HUNDREDS of themhanging out in there! He realized the previous owner didn’t seal it behind there so he caulked all of them. This year we just have one here and there.

• 6 suess // Mar 12, 2007 at 11:35 am

  I live in a very old house, circa 1830 and every winter we see at least one of these a week. They walk very slowly, and appear a bit dazed, much like the odd wasp that appear on the very warm sunny days. The Asian lady beetles are always pretty sprightly all winter, though, giving our youngest cat a lot of exercise, chasing them.

• 7 firefly // Mar 12, 2007 at 2:05 pm

  We have a lot of spiders (a LOT of them) so we don’t see much of other bugs except the occasional outbreak of fungus gnats when I plant a new flat of kitty grass.

  My cats are good about catching bugs, although they won’t eat things that smell bad to them (ants, for example).

• 8 Mary Ann // Mar 12, 2007 at 9:42 pm

  Uh-oh. We have been seeing a creature like this around for the last couple of months. Just one at a time, here and there, slowling moving across the dining room or the patio screen. And we always relocate ‘cept the poor guy I mashed in the dark one night……barefoot. Ick. The ones that have come in the house are longer and skinnier, just as the other Idaho gal reported. Generally, our stink bugs are just like the ones in the photo. The ones in the house have been few and far between but now I am on the lookout.

• 9 Zoey // Mar 13, 2007 at 4:42 am

  HI Kathy,

  I have had a couple of those stink bugs. Mine looked just like the one you pictured. I believe I’ve had one or two Asian beetles– no invasion of either.

• 10 Ki // Mar 13, 2007 at 11:01 am

  Hi Kathy,
  We caught 5 in our house so far. One in the fall which I released before I knew what a pest it was and I’ve sent 4 that I’ve subsequently caught this spring to the Rutgers Univ. Entomology Dept. NJ. They are conducting a study to assess the spread of the stinkbug after it was first found in Pennsylvania in the late ’90’s if I remember correctly. Here’s a link to their website:
  http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/stinkbug/

  I’m sure they would be extremely grateful for any sightings they receive.

• 11 Betsy // Mar 13, 2007 at 6:54 pm

  Well well, thanks to you, I just got myself a little education about our bugs! The longer, skinnier “stink bugs” in my house in North Idaho are really called “Northern Conifer Seed” bugs. I looked it up on a great local website. Here is the link, with photos!

  http://www.sandpointinsider.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=20

  And I don’t want to sound like a freak, but I kind of like the smell of them. The cats sure don’t. -Betsy

• 12 Mary Ann // Mar 13, 2007 at 10:59 pm

  And back to Betsy, from the other Idaho gal: true confession, when we DID accidentally squash the rounder/flatter stink bug, I always thought they smelled like Jergens cherry almond old fashioned lotion. I never could figure out why they were called stink bugs.

  And last night, sure as fire, one of the long skinny ones dive bombed me in bed while reading. I may have both the conifer seed bugs and brown marmalades. Yikes!

• 13 cyndy // Mar 22, 2007 at 7:32 am

  we live in an old cabin, in the pines, in Pennsylvania. I have had years when the conifer seed bugs swarm in October (heavens, don’t suck them up in the vac!) They seem to run in cycles (like the asian ladybug). This past year was not bad at all…..

• 14 stacey // Mar 31, 2007 at 10:26 pm

  We bought an old house here in southeastern Pa. last year and this past fall we were absolutely INUNDATED with these disgusting pests ! My exterminator says they’re all over our area this year. Anyway, all this winter I’ve been seeing them in my house-especially on warm days at the windows- and am now to the point of declaring all-out war on them. I can’t stand bugs and to have this problem is ruining my happiness with our new house. Anyone have any ideas on how to get rid of them ?????

• 15 Kathy Purdy // Apr 1, 2007 at 9:25 am

  I’m not an expert, just a stay-at-home mom with a penchant for gardening and writing. You can google this bug and find out as much as I did. Vacuuming seemed to be the preferred method of getting rid of the ones in the house. Also, it is a seasonal problem. They will all leave in the spring of their own accord. The experts recommend sealing up all cracks with caulk, which might work in a modern house, but in a century-old house like mine it’s kind of a joke.

• 16 Jenn // Apr 2, 2007 at 4:00 pm

  Just found one in my sons room. I’m about ready to throw up. My house is 50 years old but we dont understand how they are getting in. The upstairs should be totally sealed off. We renovated it not too long ago.

• 17 Jo Bralley // Apr 6, 2007 at 8:03 pm

  We have been infested with stink bugs in our area in Va. Some got in our bed while we were sleeping this winter. I got sick from the oder and so did my husband. The oder stayed in our skin for a couple days each time. We tried perfume and different products and was unable to rid of the oder of stink.. I want you to know we check our beds and entire house and have killed so many. Our pest control tells us they will not harm you but I sure would hate to accidently get one in my mouth. or on my food.

  They love light and crawl on our outside windows. I describe them as heavy with fluid and when they fly and land on an area they make a noise.
  We have pets and cannot spray.
  .

• 18 Jonathan // Apr 20, 2007 at 11:38 pm

  I live in Phila, PA suburbs in an 1880 Victorian. Had seen the bugs on my screen dooe in the past but this year they are coming into my third floor office from the attaic. One or two a week last week (April 2007) now 3-5/hr. I understand they were wintering and should be “coming around” this time of year (April). Hopefully they’ll go. No way to seal this old house.

• 19 Josie // Apr 23, 2007 at 10:42 pm

  Ugh. We have two or three of the long skinny stink bugs invading our house each week. We live in northern Michigan. They have been uninvited guests for MANY months. Every week they are in different rooms of the house.
  It’s been bad enough to spot them around the house, but today one landed on my arm while I was on the computer…..too close for comfort. I too, worry that Iwill find one in our bed.YUCKY! we’ve lived in this house for over 20 years, but it’s just been in this past year that they have invaded our home.

• 20 kathy // May 11, 2007 at 8:38 am

  We live in Oley Pa. The stink bugs are driving me crazy. I keep my christmas decorations in large totes, when I opened them they were loaded with stinkbugs. My Father in Law had a picture in a glass frame which he took apart there were 5 stink bug between the picture and the cardboard on the back. I purchased some cedar chips I`m gonna put them in buckets in my attic and see if they leave. Moth balls didn`t work. The only place I have not seen them is in my closet, and thats cedar. I`ll let you know if they leave and never return.

• 21 Amy // May 24, 2007 at 12:22 pm

  I live in a 35 year old house in Doylestown, PA. 2005 is when we first started to see them. Last year we started growing pumpkins as they grew we could see bugs what looked like pumpkin seeds. As they got bigger they grew it to these Brown Stink Bugs, which were everywhere.
  They completely destroyed the pumpkins. They are in my curtains in the bedroom, our clothing, the windows our shoes they drive me crazy. My husband does not seem to mind but I don’t like the idea of one waking up with me in bed. I have learned to live with the black furry spiders but not the Brown Stick Bugs. Is there any spray that can be used to control these? I was also informed that last year was the worst for them and everyone had problems.

• 22 Dennis // May 27, 2007 at 3:00 pm

  I live in Williams Twp Pa. since 2006. Never heard of stink bugs till I get here. They are a real nuisance and last fall we were innundated with them.

  Even now, we have them showing up in our finished basement and radom rooms in the house. Some times as many as a dozen a day.

  I went on a web site called bugspray.com and found some very useful info on stink bug control. It doesn’t eliminate them but it sure does cut down on the population. I have used the pesticides and they do work. But believe me, it is a real battle keeping them under control.

  Good luck

• 23 George // May 27, 2007 at 7:40 pm

  I beleive the best way to rid your home of STINKBUGS is to put the oil where the squeak is…ELIMNATE ACCESS. If you stop them from coming inside your home they cannot bother you. So you should work on sealing all cracks and crevices on the inside of your home first. Most openings can be found around your windows and doors behind your trim work. Even make sure you have doorsweeps (weatherstrips) on the base of your exterior doors. These bugs do not need much space to squeeze through. If you have central air in your home…make sure your air handler and intake vents have filters. They could come in through the basement where there is any penetration through the walls or even where the foundation meets the house framing. The last sealing should be done on the exterior of the home. Seal any cracks or openings around the capping of the windows and door. If you have siding they can enter at any opening where the siding starts or ends…at the corner moldings and the bottom moldings. The chemicals only help population control. These bugs need to have there access to your home denied.

• 24 j. coffin // Sep 5, 2007 at 12:18 pm

  I live in E. Pikeland Twp, PA. It’s 9/05/07 and the invasion into my “new” 76 yr. old house has already begun. Discovered them all over the inside of the house when I moved in last Feb., and freaked. Yetserday and today a couple dozen were on the north outside wall of the house. I used wasp spray as that was all I had. Will somebody please invent traps for these bugs as they have for Jap. Beetles and Yellow jackets? ASAP

• 25 kathy // Sep 8, 2007 at 1:42 pm

  We’ve had this disgusting critters for several years. They left for the summer and now I just started seeing them climbing all over the exterior of our house. I saw two yesterday on the skylight windows INSIDE the house. I know it is only a few days before they are everywhere. Why can’t bug companies do something about these? I also don’t know how one’s house can be totally sealed. I’ve never seen them crawl in except by one door of the house. We’ve sealed around that one but this place can’t be hermetically sealed for goodness sake. I HATE THEM!!!!

• 26 D. Bruno // Sep 9, 2007 at 2:05 pm

  I live in central New Jersey and we started getting these disgusting bugs in our home ever since we decided to put a window in one of our rooms, that was about 3 years ago and ever since, they started coming in around September and I’ll stop seeing them around April. I first tried regular bug spray but didn’t kill them, so I purchased Stink Bug killer over the internet and it works as long as I continue to spray around baseboards and around the inside and outside of this new window. I had an exterminator actually tell us there’s not much you can do but live with them!! I refuse to live with these ugly looking bugs in my home. I too HATE THEM!!!!!!!

• 27 kathy // Sep 9, 2007 at 2:09 pm

  All the exterminators here say the same thing. I think the problem is that they do not clean themselves and thus can not ingest the poison after passing over it. Nevertheless, I’m having someone come by tomorrow to spray the exterior siding of our home.

• 28 Marcy // Sep 20, 2007 at 3:20 pm

  I’ve been cleaning upstairs today and decided to let the fresh air in by opening all of the windows, only to find them all covered in stink bugs every few minutes!
  We flush (as in down the toilet) about 5+ almost daily during the winter and it’s just getting so annoying.
  I was just checking the one site mentioned (bugspray.com I think) and will seriously consider spraying our whole house. We just had new siding put on last fall, thinking we were better “sealed”. Maybe we were just letting them in while the siding was being finished.
  Ah, life in rural PA.

• 29 Betsy // Sep 20, 2007 at 8:46 pm

  Please PLEASE everyone, think about it before you spray possibly cancer causing chemicals all over your home and into your air (into yours, your children’s and your pets’ precious bodies) and eventually into the whole ecosystem. Is it worth it? Is the fear of bugs worth it? The stink bugs don’t do any real harm, do they?

• 30 Samantha Bernardo // Sep 21, 2007 at 10:01 am

  Hello Kathy. We have had stink bugs in our house for the past week, they wiggle in through our old window screens and coast in on our clothes. It seems that they have literally come out of the ground by the thousands.
  While working outside or playing with the kids in the backyard, I am bombarded by them. Are they blind? I wonder this because they run right into us.
  We noticed them last fall and winter as well. There is one on my desk calendar right now, just sitting there. As far as I know, they pose no threat. Just stink and make a buzzing sound when flying. My boys do not care for them and I hate their warrior like pose when approached, but what am I to do? Is there any way to diminish their numbers on my screens, patio and inside the house?
  Part of living in the mountains of Maryland, I guess. At least they are no mosquitoes.
  Take care.

  I will take them over the field mice any day!

• 31 Diane // Sep 22, 2007 at 3:11 pm

  I live in Eastern PA and started seeing these disgusting stink bugs last summer. I have lived here 6 years and all of a sudden they just show up! There for a little bit I thought they were gone just to have them come back with a vengeance!! I swept up and swatted so many today alone! They smell absolutely horrible and are so ugly and I get very angry when I see them like that. One or two I can handle but not in swarms! Live and let live? I don’t think so!! They must DIE!!! Our house is quite old with the original siding and windows. There is no way to seal this old house to keep them out. HELP!!

• 32 Quinc // Sep 22, 2007 at 4:56 pm

  Arg… The stinkbugs, there were a family of 30 in my friend’s bedroom. They have to go, but no one knows what to do.

• 33 Jim // Sep 22, 2007 at 5:21 pm

  We live in Phoenixville, Pa. We’re experiencing the same problem as last year. My wife and I absolutely HATE these things. We still had our room AC in the window. NOT anymore. Those SOB’s were coming in by the dozens. PLEASE invent a kick a$$ chemical to eliminate these pests. We live in an 80 year old home and it’s impossible to seal every crack and crevice.

• 34 Jim // Sep 22, 2007 at 5:23 pm

  If at all possible catch and release down the toilet. I read online that they’re attracted to the scent for at least 6 months

• 35 Lori // Sep 23, 2007 at 7:35 am

  We just moved to the Pottstown, PA area and are inundated with stink bugs. Oh my word. I have tons every day. It’s gross. Of course, they are in the window and curtain areas, coming in from the air conditioning units. I can’t take it. They tell me there is nothing to do, so I guess we’ll just have to suffer. They are disgusting.

• 36 Alison // Sep 23, 2007 at 2:55 pm

  I’m also suffering from the stink bug infestation, as I live outside of Pottstown, PA. Its finally been the last straw for me as my kitten got ahold of one on Friday and ended up sick. My dad and I both getting rid of them by sticking a piece of duct tape too them and throwing the tape outside in the trash can, if they live then so be it. However, I strongly suggest you don’t vaccuum them, the smell is in their for a long time!

• 37 Vickie // Sep 23, 2007 at 7:16 pm

  I too reside in PA, southcentral region/Susquehanna Valley. I live in an old farmhouse from the 1800’s and never experienced anything like these buggers in my life!!! We have an exterminator come every fall and hear the same thing, not much can be done, just put up with them…not much help in light of the fact that today I disposed of at least 2 dozen…welcome cooler weather and sunny fall days! These creatures love hanging around my door frame and i feel as i I need a bee keeper helmet to get in my front door. It’s particuarly disconcerting when theyget in the house and in a quiet moment, such as now while typing at my computer, one or more of them decide to make themselves known and divebomb me making that horrible buzzing noise! Today, in desparation, I placed 2-3 clorox wipes, doused in additional clorox, above my door frame, where there is a bit of a gap…I am hoping the clorox smell drives them away…if so, maybe I’m on to something? Will let you know…I would much rather smell some clorox than waste water flushing these pests down the toilet!

• 38 Nancy // Sep 24, 2007 at 11:26 am

  We live in the Media/Wallingford PA area, and we too have been infested–last year, a few random ones in the house, but this year they are all over our deck, the windows and door frames, trying to get in. We crush them with a paper towel and put in trash, so the smell gets disposed, but we must have killed about 60 this past weekend. My exterminator company (chronic problem with carpenter ants) won’t treat stink bugs, but they are like cockroaches, really repulsive. We live in the woods so I’m perfectly willing to cohabit with spiders, carpenter bees, the cicada invasions and a bunch of other things, but these DO harm: the smell can make some people ill, and pets who catch and kill them can become very sick. And they serve no purpose in the ecological foodchain: birds don’t eat them because they smell, they destroy crops, the do no good. They are like invasive weeds, worse for the environment than the chemicals used to destroy them. And sealing your house doesn’t prevent them from congregating over your walls and making departure from your house very unpleasant–try selling your house with an infestation of these things, would you buy a house that had such a problem? Permythrin seems to be the recommended insecticide, I think that is what Mike McGrath of “Gardens Alive” and “You Bet Your Garden” recommends for ticks, and he’s an organic gardener. Having just started our infestation recently, however, we haven’t had a chance to try it yet.

• 39 Juan // Sep 24, 2007 at 2:51 pm

  We live in Harrisburg, PA ( near Blue Mountain) and we started noticing stinkbugs last year especially on the southwest side of the house (sunny all afternnoon). This year they are back and I have noticed more of them. We have a pest control company that comes twice a year but because they are outside, I guess the poison used does not get to them. I heard that in this area the problem this year is worse than last. I really hate them and SMASH them with a broom everytime they come close to me (sorry for the bug lovers). JT

• 40 Jonathan // Sep 24, 2007 at 2:59 pm

  As I posted earlier, these bugs first appeared in the house last April but were gone by June or July. Now, they’re baaaaaaaack. What do these things eat? I have no vegetable garden. Maybe I can get rid of their food supply. Any ideas?

• 41 Mary // Sep 24, 2007 at 3:09 pm

  Not glad, but relieved to hear we are not the only ones infested with these horrible stink bugs. They have attached themselves to our house and everytime the door is opened I kill three or four of them. (every day). Didn’t have them until last year but, this year they are worse. Please tell me they will go away when the weather gets colder if that ever happens. We live in Elizabethtown, Pa.

• 42 kathy // Sep 24, 2007 at 3:14 pm

  Sorry to tell you this but when the weather gets colder they come inside.

• 43 Gracie // Sep 24, 2007 at 11:14 pm

  I live on the Outer Banks of NC, Cape Hatteras. We have been BOMBARDED by stink bugs. Last fall we had hundreds on the outside of the house. This is a new house and they got inside. We called the exterminator who did nothing to solve the problem. By reading every thing I could find online, I learned they come in the fall to winter down, and leave in the spring. Problem is they mark the house and return again the following fall bringing more with them. The cycle has to be broken. Yesterday there were hundreds on the soffits, windows, siding. If we could take the house apart remove all the siding I am sure we would find thousands. The smell is so bad you can smell them just standing in the yard. I have ordered spray, enough concentrate to make 128 gallons, and the powered dust to spritz in the attic, from www.bugspray.com I will post again and let everyone know how this works. If anyone knows any thing please post or email me at ggray72670@aol.com.

• 44 Michele // Sep 25, 2007 at 3:30 pm

  I HATE THESE BUGS! I have killed over 200
  this week alone…I used to leave my doors and windows open…but with all this warm weather,
  I’ve had to close everything up. If anyone finds
  a way to get rid of these bugs…please post! I
  live in Sewickley Pa.

• 45 Carol // Sep 25, 2007 at 4:11 pm

  I’m in Doylestown, PA. I have stink bugs all over my roof (so husband tells me) and all over sunny window screens.

  They get on bedroom curtains and then crawl into the curtain rod sleeve. I hate them so much (the bugs not the sleeves) that I could scream.

  My husband is taking out the bedroom AC tonight. I think they’re coming in there. But they are coming in other places too, I’m sure, but I just don’t know where.

  There’s something disgusting about them - mostly because of their number. If there were just one or two of them, I wouldn’t mind so much. But they are all over the place outside, ON the house, and trying to get in.

• 46 lm // Sep 25, 2007 at 7:56 pm

  This is the time of year for them, so they can get in and hibernate. I must of killed about 20 today in my house, going from room to room. I can start over again if I wanted to. I must have atleast 200 on the back of my house. SOme one has to come up with an idea to get rid of them. I don’t see them this bad on my neighbors house.
  If the days start to get cooler instead of hotter they wouldn’t be this bad. Today while squishing one, the thing snipped at me. YUK! All I can say is they are the ugliest, smelliest annoying bug! Also they seem to be worse this year than last. Pray for cooler weather.

• 47 Shawn // Sep 25, 2007 at 10:40 pm

  These things have been a plague to my home for the last year, but right now, they are worse than ever.
  I have tried Raid, Ortho, etc. with no effect, next I will try Sevin, or Malithion on the exterior of my home. Inside my home, a popular gun cleaner/degreaser called Break Free Powder Blast kills them quickly, but I would not use this on any surface without fear of staining or damage.
  I will find a way to kill or deter these damn things. I have an idea for a trap…….I will post again if I find any success.

• 48 Matt // Sep 26, 2007 at 7:32 am

  Harrisburg, PA here… We first noticed our stink bugs last year in the summer time and then it got worse as fall rolled around. I finally figured out late last year how they were getting in the house. They were coming in through a window A/C unit in our bedroom upstairs. We probably got rid of around 50 around this time last year. Then we took the A/C unit out of the window for the winter and what happened next was one of the most disgusting things I’ve seen… the bugs made themselves a little city inside the unit. There was easily over 150-200 stink bugs inside the unit. Just trying to find a way to deter them from making their way through the rest of the house.

• 49 Dennis // Sep 26, 2007 at 12:07 pm

  I live in Williams Twp Pa. and have been battling stink bugs for 2 years now. Here’s what I found out so far:

  1) Cypremethrin sprayed on the outside of the house will kill stink bugs hanging in the exterior cracks and crevices of the house. It only has a 3-4 week effective life so repeated sprayings are needed until thanksgiving time. It will do NOTHING to stop the swarming onto the house in the first place.

  2) Aggressive sealing of all cracks, crevices, around windows , doors, under siding, water lines entering the house, electrical lines entering house, a/c compressor lines entering house, screening exhaust vents, fireplace vents, door sweeps, fixing torn screens, etc. will significantly cut down on stink bugs getting into living spaces inside the house. Spraying will NOT stop them from getting in because the spray takes 24 hours to kill them. Even if they are infected they will already be inside by then.

  3) Dusting the attic with deltramethrin insecticidale dust will kill stink bugs entering from along the roof line, soffits, and attic vents. If you have forced hot air heating or central a/c, be sure to screen the air return registers in each bedroom because that’s how they move from the attic to the upstairs bedrooms and end up mysteriously hanging on the interior side of the windows.

  The one thing I have not figured out yet is how to stop the swarming in the first place. The bugs leave their scent (mark) on the house when they leave in the spring. That’s how they know where to come back to in the fall. If the scent can be eliminated then maybe they can be eliminated too. If anyone has any ideas (ie: powerwashing the exterior, products that neutralize inscect scents, any traps of any kind) please share with all of us because we are in this battle on our own. The insect control industry is USELESS! All they will say is “There is nothing we can do”.

  Good luck and let’s keep each other informed. Knowledge is power and the more people thinking the better off we all will be. We should be able to lick this probelm because - when you come right down to it - they are just bugs and not alien creature from outer space.

• 50 Amanda // Sep 26, 2007 at 12:34 pm

  Gloucester County, NJ here…Last week my husband and I started noticing the stink bugs. It was okay because there was only a few here and there but now…… wow is it a different story! The windows in ALL the rooms are infested with them. We live in an apartment complex and I called them to come out. I got to hear those lovely words of “can not help you”. I was in the kitchen cooking and I got dive bombed by one! We have central air and I actually saw one crawl in the vent. We have lived here for 3 years and never had a one. They are calling for beautiful weather this weekend and I will be unable to open my windows in fear of the extended families of the bugs that are already in here coming in. I can handle (with the help of my husband) other bugs and possibly a few of theses but come on!

  Good luck! I know I need it!

• 51 JAT // Sep 26, 2007 at 2:25 pm

  I am seeing more than last year. We don’t have them inside the house, but the back exterior wall (sun all afternoon) is full of them. I just aggressively hose the wall and they disappeared. I am sure when the wall dries out they will return, but at least I feel vindicated!!! It was good not to see them for a while. If tomorrow they are not back…I’ll share it.

  I agree with others here, they disappear when the cold weather comes.
  Good luck!

• 52 meg // Sep 26, 2007 at 3:29 pm

  Yuck, well at least i am glad it’s not just my home. I am new to flemington NJ, and there are a ton here. They especially seem to like the shaded side of the house, maybe the direct sun is too much for them. I have killed 2 inside, but have batted countless numbers of them off my screens. Do any of the internet offered sprays work? Please do not give me the cancer?bug spray lecture, i have heard it before- it didn’t take then, and looking around my house, it is certainly not going to take now. lol

• 53 Gracie // Sep 26, 2007 at 4:47 pm

  Thank you Dennis for your comments. I ordered the products you used from www.bugspray.com and according to the tracking # it will be here tomorrow. I ordered 128 oz. to make 128 gallons, I think we will y every week to start off. I will let everyone here know how it works for us.
  It seems we are the only ones in our small village that have them and I wonder if there is a certain type of paint that attracts them. Our house is painted purple cabbage with pink trim (victorian)
  Does any one else have a dark color. I am just trying to find out why one house get all the bugs.
  Do other people in your neighbor hood have them.
  It seems the farmers have pestisides to help control them, why can’t pest control use the same thing the farmer uses?

• 54 maggee // Sep 26, 2007 at 6:19 pm

  sinking spring, pa. stink bugs. they have come here……..in the house, they are everywhere they are everywhere. outside is sealed up. inside i have been trying to “bunch them” they stay in the skylights on the roof for light……..tons of them.
  the smell is making me sick and my 4 rescue dogs do not go near them, but, the smell in catching what I can and flushing them stinks to high heaven.
  They go to daylight. I can catch them on a tissue and darken up the house and put the tissure at the glass sliding door and they will fly off into the light before the dark hits.

  THERE MUST BE A WAY TO BUNCH THEM TO LIGHT AND KILL THEM……

• 55 Julie // Sep 26, 2007 at 6:22 pm

  I just moved down to Alexandria, VA and have a similar problem with these bugs as the rest of you. It took us a long time just to identify them because apparently they’re not as common here. (At least not like PA). We live in an apartment and they seem to be drawn to our windows more than anyone elses. Other people have a few but we have about a hundred on each side of the apartment. It is so sick. I am constantly killing them and it’s not getting better, its getting worse. It has gotten to the point where I do not even want to sleep in my bed at night because there are a few each night crawling around in it. (I have the room with the most windows). I have heard the caulking thing works best but I don’t think i’m allowed to do that since it’s not my own property. I am ready to move out. I wonder if this is justification for breaking a lease… probably not. It’s just gotten unbearable

• 56 Vickie // Sep 26, 2007 at 6:51 pm

  Out of sheer desparation I re-sealed my front door, the main point of entry for these alien bugs, and also sprayed around the door, inside and out with a mix of water, dish detergent and pure bleach! One day down and only 3 to kill when I got home…and hopefully those were already inside…I will keep everyone posted. You would think the bug killling chemical companies would want to discover the miracle kill spray - they’d make a million dollars at least! An earlier post said it seems farmers have a pesticide to control them? I don’t the truth of that..every bit of research I’ve found says the bugs are not harmful to crops, plants, etc. which seems to be the main reason no one in the chemical industry is in a hurry to discover a successful kill mix…you can bet if these alien bugs were destroying crops or vegetation, the government/DEP/EPA would have something to combat them!!!

• 57 Gracie // Sep 26, 2007 at 7:26 pm

  Hi Vickie

  In searching the web for a way to get rid of stink bugs I did find many places that gave information about SBugs destroying crops, corn sybeans and fruit trees. There is information on what farmers use but it is just numbers and it seems they spray with crop dusters. Here is one web site.http://www.entomology.ksu.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=361&tabid=567

  There are pictures of the crop damage.

• 58 Wendy // Sep 26, 2007 at 10:43 pm

  Oh my gosh all these comments and I planned to call the exterminator tomorrow!!! My daughter and I must have killed 500 hundred of these darn bugs in the last few days. Our home is aside of a field that was just cut down and I swear they all came into my home ! I called for help, and no one can do anything ? How can Pa. have such an abundant problem and no one can do a thing to help? These bugs are more than an small problem , we cannot sleep or eat for fear they are going to swarm us or be in our food!They wait in groves outside our doors for the first time we open it to fly in , and we have flushed so many I don’t think they even die in the toilet either. I held one under the water and it walked up the flyswatter to try to get out!!! Can nothing be done??? I am going to try thiese ideas and will let you know if I have any luck !
  Though I must say I’ve seen many near our window unit in the upstairs room . The rest of the house has central air, perhaps they have made a nest? I found 50 to 75 of them behind the mirror of my daughters dresser nad loads behind the pictures she has on her walls too !!
  I plan to write a letter to our Dept. of Health and see what they have to say , I’m goning to tell them to read this site. Hope they see we need help, before these bugs take over !!!!!!!!

• 59 Kathy // Sep 27, 2007 at 8:28 am

  I also have a cornfield across the street being cut down, and the last few days it`s like living a horror movie. Yesterday I vacumned afew 100 from my front porch. I`m hoping they are like other insects and go in cycles last spring we had very few ladybugs, six years ago we had hundreds of them, unless the stink bugs ate them? They`re been 30 or more on every screen in every window for days, except today. We`re going to have storms, are they hiding?Can stink bugs predict weather? If anyone finds out how to get rid of them let us all know. Thanks from the Amityville horror in Oley PA

• 60 Gracie // Sep 27, 2007 at 9:27 am

  Wendy, it seems that you have as many as we do.
  I am trying to find a common link, why one house had stink bugs and others in the same area aren’t bothered. You said you were near a field and so did Kathy. We live on Hatteras Island, NO farms or crop fields of any kind but we do have vacant lots on either side of us. Lots that are grown up with weeds and oak trees. Do you know if any of your neighbors have them? I know that finding the common link isn’t going to help get rid of them but I am curious. Our house is painted a dark color does any one else have dark paint?
  The bug spray I ordered will be here today but it is raining so we will have to wait until tomorrow to start spraying, we will spray the dust in the attic. If this helps I will let you know. We have been spraying a pesticide for the exterior all around the porch areas and have been finding dead ones so it is working a little. If we don;t find away to break the cycle they will leave in the spring and come back with MORE in the fall.
  Even thou we haven’t seen many inside I am sure there are humdreds trying to winter under the single edges and under the siding.
  Has any one tryed a bug zapper or any kind of trap, I figure ever one killed is one that won’t be back with children next year.

• 61 Diane // Sep 27, 2007 at 9:31 am

  My home is a light color and they are all over the place and our neighbors are also having the same issue as us. I do not think it has anything to do with the color of your house.

• 62 Gracie // Sep 27, 2007 at 9:32 am

  Noticed I had the website for pesticide that farmers use wrong here is the correst link.

  www.entomology.ksu.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=361&tabid=567

• 63 jsm // Sep 27, 2007 at 9:39 am

  FYI - I have a stucco home (light colored), front back and sides all stucco, I am loaded with them, especially on a hot sunny day where the sun is. My neighbors do not have them like I do, my neighborhhod varies with every house being different. Also beware if you have a FP, they come in from there as well. Banging against the walls. My cats fear them, because of their odor.
  I am getting the house sprayed today, this will only control the ones that aren’t in yet. The ones that are hear that I don’t know about will probably come out of hiding from now till spring. I squashed atleast 20 yesterday, and before bed they were flying around in my bedroom - yuk, I swear they act blind stupid and brainless, sometimes you think you squash the dam thing in the papertowel, only to find out it fell out somewhere and back to where you started.

• 64 Amy // Sep 27, 2007 at 10:20 am

  Hi All:

  I stumbled upon this link by accident. This describes the stink bugs and a suggestion for crops. The garlic spray and lemon ammonia/soapy water sounds good.

  I am going to try this when I get home tonight.

  Another thought:

  They do enter from window air conditioners; we have clear packing tape covering the boarder of the window on the inside, one got stuck in the tape and died.

  What about fly paper?

  http://en.allexperts.com/q/Pests-730/organic-garden-pest.htm

• 65 Gracie // Sep 27, 2007 at 10:40 am

  I found this page

  http://vegipm.tamu.edu:7998/vegipm/FMPro

  It list 24 products used by farmers. May be someone with more biological or chemical knowledge than I have could take a look and see if one product would work better than another.
  They are for spraying or dusting on the crops but I would try one to spray around the porchs and windows.

• 66 Kathy // Sep 27, 2007 at 12:14 pm

  Did anyone try the stuff from bugspray.com yet? If you do and it works please let the rest of us know. I really don`t think the color of the house has anything to do with it, mine is light grey.

• 67 Michele // Sep 27, 2007 at 12:38 pm

  Our house also is a light yellow, so I don’t think it has anything to do with the color of the house.
  It does have a lot of sunny windows though. I
  never thought I would I would be wishing for cooler rainy weather but today that is what we
  have and I haven’t seen one bug..its soo nice!
  Praise God!

• 68 Brian // Sep 27, 2007 at 1:23 pm

  This may sound a little off the wall but I’ve found that these things really hate bleach. In order not to damage my siding or any other parts of my house I bought some “Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner with Bleach” at the supermarket. I sprayed some around the back porch and sliding glass door where about 75 of them were crawling and they all took off. It’s been 2 days now and none have returned. Maybe the bleach kills the smell they use to mark a territory to swarm to.

• 69 Mary // Sep 27, 2007 at 2:33 pm

  I have been reading all I can about these pest in the last couple days. I read they have been imported from Asia by farmers. They tend to eat all the bugs that otherwise would ruin the Tomato, corn, mellon and other farm products. We have part random rock and vinyl (ivory) siding and the only place I see them is were the sun hits most of the day. They crawl through the small cracks around the screen door and wait for the inner door to open and in they come. Unless something is done about them I feel each year will be worse. (SORRY).

• 70 Vickie // Sep 27, 2007 at 2:42 pm

  I am inclined to agree with Brian, I wiped down my front door, inside and out, with Clorox wipes and have sprayed the door (it’s aluminum) on both sides with a mixture of Clorox and water. Also, I applied weather stripping around the door, their main entry point and it’s been two days and the number has reduced dramatically…it’s been sunny and warm here today so we’ll see what I come home to in a few hours! Again, we’ll post here about the results. The smell of Clorox is definitely something I can get used to if it wards off these alien bugs!!

• 71 Amanda // Sep 27, 2007 at 3:36 pm

  These bugs must have watched the weather with me last night because I have yet to see one today (besides the few that seem to be stuck inbetween the screens in my window). I am going to try spraying bleach around my windows… maybe. Worried about my cat. But then again since these bugs started showing up out of the blue my poor cat won’t go anywhere near the windows. My husband was listening to a radio station today and people we calling up from all over the tri state area (PA,NJ,DE) and complaining about the bugs. Someone had mentioned that they might be a certain kind of bee that will kill the stick bugs, however they would have to be introduced into the area. Not sure what would be worse…

• 72 Dennis // Sep 27, 2007 at 3:49 pm

  I too think Brian may be onto something. I really think the scent has something to do with them hanging around. If the bleach kills the scent that may the the ticket out of this mess.

  I think I will try a test spot on my siding to see what damage if any it does as far as discoloration. If no damage occurs I will try it out on the house.

  someone asked about bugspray.com. I used their products and they do work. Cypermythron only lasts about 2-3 weeks and then reapplication is needed. Deltramethrin dust is good for 6 months and bagon has an odor so I don’t use that one at all.

• 73 Polly // Sep 27, 2007 at 3:52 pm

  Im glad to know I am not the only one!! I live in West Chester, PA and I have been noticing the stink bugs since early in the summer. All summer I would freak out when I see them (I am DEATHLY scared of bugs) and I have to call on my roommates, bf or neighbors to kill them. Just recently I found out that they were called stink bugs. They are DISGUSTING!! I find them in my apartment and they seem to just appear all of a sudden.
  I am thankful for everyones comments on how they are handling the situation and things to do to try and keep them out. If anyone can help answer my few more questions, I would greatly appreciate it.
  Do they ever go away? What are their main seasons for invasion?
  Thanks and Good Luck with those pesty creatures…YUCK!!!!

• 74 lm // Sep 27, 2007 at 5:53 pm

  To Polly,

  They come in this time of year to hibernate for the winter, this is there time. They don’t need food, just shelter, many people will find them in soffetts and around windows - that is how they find their way in. I squash them and flush down the toilet - as soon as the days get cooler they should reduce in volume. If you have pets, be careful, they can become infected with the nasty odor, and get very sick.

• 75 Kathy Purdy // Sep 27, 2007 at 6:14 pm

  To everyone commenting on this post: I have had to disable the subscribe to comments function because so many people are commenting on this post that it is overloading my webhost’s server’s when the comment notifications are sent. I am really glad you are all commenting here, and you can still track comments by subscribing to the Comments RSS feed, which you can find in the sidebar. Thanks. If I can find out anything more about these bugs I will let you know.

• 76 Vickie // Sep 27, 2007 at 6:25 pm

  Polly,
  It seems that they tend to invade with the onset of fall…they sense the coming cold and look to get in to your house to winter down. If you have the same experience I have had, you will also notice that the ones that managed to get into your house will appear again in the spring trying to get OUT of your house!! I moved into my old home last December, AFTER their initial invasion to get in…I saw a few over the winter months but figured it was just because I lived in an old house, then spring came and I freaked OUT! The exterminator who came out explained this cycle to me so last week when they aliens began to appear, although not shocked, I was not happy! but thanks to sites like this and a lot of internet research, identifying them as stink bugs was the first step to getting some answers. For now, I am going with the bleach - however, it has been unseasonably warm here where I live the last few days so that may also contribute to their “backing off” - the weekend is to be more seasonable and cooler at night - sunny during the day so that will be a better test of the weatherstripping I had installed and the spraying of my bleach/water mixture. Also, if, like a lot of people suggest, you vaccum them up instead of smashing them, what do you do with them when you empty your vaccum bag or like me, the cannister of my bagless sweeper? They are still going to be alive??? Anybody have any thoughts on that???

• 77 Kevin // Sep 27, 2007 at 10:52 pm

  I live in Florence NJ, and last year we had a couple stink bugs, and now this year we must be killing 50 a day… Just like everybody else, im looking for the solution to this problem, if anyone has any ideas at all please post on this site or email me.

• 78 JAT // Sep 28, 2007 at 5:43 am

  Hosing the wall where they like to hang out worked for a little bit. Several hours after just few came back. I am going to try bleach (as many others here ) to see if it help us.

  I am going to email today the PA Dept. of Agriculture to ask if they are planning something to eliminate the problem or reduce it to manageable levels. If you wish you should do the same. If many residents ask they will prob. have mercy and help.

• 79 Gracie // Sep 28, 2007 at 5:25 pm

  We sprayed today using the pesticide that we ordered from www.bugspray.com. The stink bugs were not swarming today but we did see many coming out from under the siding after we sprayed. The chemical does kill them. We will spray again tomorrow as we didn’t get the entire house today. We sprinted the dust from
  www.bugspray.com in the attic, don’t know if works yet. We have enough concentrate to make 128 gallons and plan on spraying weekly until we run out. I will keep you up dated on how this works. We have to get as many out from under the siding as possibe or they will come again next year.

• 80 Gracie // Sep 28, 2007 at 5:33 pm

  Something I forgot to mention is keeping the bugs out of the house is just one part of the fight against stink bugs. They will nest under your siding, eaves of house and under single edges. They will leave a scent that will bring them back next year. Unless the cycle is broken each year they will be more of them. Last fall we had hundreds of them, out side. This spring we had to redo some siding and found hundreds under the few pieces we had to replace.

• 81 JT // Sep 29, 2007 at 4:53 pm

  I’m in DelCo, Pa. I was having the same problem as everyone else here. The darn bugs were actually coming in my bedroom window thru the AC unit. I had to pull the unit out the other day. Sucked up about 50 bugs that came out of the unit and that were hiding in the curtains with the vacuum. Following that, I tried using the Ortho Max Lawn and Garden Insect Killer (at Home Depot) and sprayed the outside foundation and the wall in which they coming in, also wiped down all the windows (inside and out) with a the Clorox mixture (as mentioned by someone else). Its been 2 days now, no more stink bugs inside or even outside the wall. Will seen how long it last!!!

• 82 Nancy // Sep 30, 2007 at 12:08 pm

  Denni’s post above has the most accurate info on these. Clorox might chase them away temporarily but won’t kill them and they’ll be back. The Agric websites above involve insecticides applied directly to the bugs, won’t prevent them from entering your home. To kill them, I’ve sprayed a combo of perethrin (nontoxic) and cypermythrin (moderately toxic in concentrate, but safe in dilution) which kills them but does not prevent new ones from coming back, and requires repeated application as Dennis mentions. I found Raid Ant Killer (the turquoise can) contained this combination of chemicals, so you don’t have to dilute anything yourself and risk toxic exposure.

  However, an early post from Ki pointed to a Rutgers website, http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/stinkbug/ where they are tracking the spread of the bugs. I urge everyone to fill out the online form, and then they want you to MAIL them some bugs–send them hundreds and maybe they’ll hurry with the trap their are developing. One of the entymologists running the study sent me the following :
  “Unfortunately there is not much else I can tell you to do at this point. We are
  working on some options that involve traps but they are not yet ready for use.
  Also, there is nothing you can spray on your windows, etc. that is legal. As
  for where are they coming from, these insects do quite nicely on all sorts of
  ornamentals and trees that have either seeds or berries. In fact. we do most of
  our research in an arboretum setting because they are so prevelant on all of the
  trees at the site.”

• 83 kellyanne // Oct 3, 2007 at 11:31 pm

  I am beyond petrified of these things. This is the first time I have looked up anything on this freaking things! Tonight, I had it!! I was about to go to bed and saw 3 on my curtain rod. I cant kill them because I am so afraid to go near them. I started crying and freaking out hysterically! It was a panic attack from these stupid things. Are they going to calm down at all in the winter?? Andwhen did they get here? Please give me hope as to when these things go away! I am beyond just a phobia!!!

• 84 Jeanne // Oct 4, 2007 at 12:26 am

  I live in Montgomery County, PA. We had some of these annoying things last year. This year is worse, I killed at least 30 the other day, all in my kitchen. They hang around on the outside of my house, which is about 55 years old but we just had resided in July. I thought that may have disturbed them and that’s why there are so many more this year. I HATE them, they gross me out, especially the sound they make when they fly! I’ll write to government agencies, use Clorox, whatever it takes. Keep the suggestions coming!

• 85 lm // Oct 4, 2007 at 5:49 am

  These next few days are going to get worse with the weather turning warmer instead of cooler. I too killed atleast 20 yesterday, I even sprayed the outside of the home, it worked for a few days, but they cam back yesterday (big time). My neighbor went to put a steak on the grill the other night and to her surprise their was a nest of them in the grill, that would freak me out. They also hide out in fireplaces, bangin up against the walls, can’t wait to torcher them as the weather gets colder. I tried the clorox treatment and that only lasted a couple of hours. Open to new ideas.

• 86 Gracie // Oct 4, 2007 at 7:47 am

  After spraying the spray from www.bugspray.com we found hundreds dead, out side of house. Weather has been warmer so for several days we didn’t see them. Yesterday they were back trying to get under the eaves of house. We watched them flying in from the west. North side of house did not have any. We sprayed again. We will continue to spray every time we see them coming until we are out of spray, hopeing to break the cycle. As everyone has read they are looking for a place to spend the winter, under siding, edges of shingles and any other crack they can find. We know from last year when the weather turns cold we won’t see them again until spring as they are beded down under the siding, trim, shingles or any crack they can find. If we can’t break the cycle they will continue to come back in the fall. I read once they find a place to spend the winter they mark it with their scent and that is how they know where to come the next year. The scent not only draws the original bugs but brings them and their children. If anyone ever finds a trap please let us know.

• 87 Jeanne // Oct 4, 2007 at 8:36 am

  Woke up to one of our friends on the wall directly across from our bed.
  I just spoke to a Montco horticulturist. She doesn’t recommend spraying or using Clorox. These bugs are leaving their chemical message behind and the only way to get rid of it is to wash it away. She said the chemicals aren’t proving effective and the Clorox could damage property. They are affecting the soybean crops in Northern Montco so maybe that will drive someone to figure something out.
  Spiders like them! I found two in a web between my water heater and boiler.

• 88 Gracie // Oct 4, 2007 at 11:15 am

  Jeanne did your friend tell you what product we should use to wash away the scent. We would try that. We could power spray the house, but I don’t think just plain soap would work.

• 89 KAP // Oct 4, 2007 at 11:09 pm

  Winchester,Virginia here!
  OMFGoodness! These so called stinkbugs are horrific. I can’t stand them. They are everywhere. We kill one…then there’s more. They are “attacking” our home and us! I can’t stand these bugs (or any for that matter). I am driving my husband crazy…flipping out over the number of these bugs inside our home.
  When will they leave us alone? A few of you said that they are in your BED? OMG!!
  I am beyond grossed out!
  HELP!!~~ ***SCREAMS OUT LOUD**

• 90 E Gardner // Oct 5, 2007 at 8:05 am

  Warrington, PA.

  I’ve taken to collecting them in pill bottles.. (some people say let them go.. I like to torture them)

  Alcohol! Vinegar! Soapy water! Smash them back and forth in the bottle with any of these liquids .. or let them alone to drown. (Shaking the bottle so that they are upside down helps, too. ) I can’t collect them all as some are on the 2nd floor screens. I had sprayed them with Mr. Clean Antibacterial to discourage them and then flicked the screens and watched them bounce with a satisfying clunk in the gutter. Dead? I’m not sure it kills them.

  Quote from my blog.. this is cool. 10/4/07

  I just had to add this because I forgot to mention it. Yesterday before I left for the bus, I took the dogs for a walk. Upon returning to the front door, there was a stinkbug, perched on the storm door, waiting to come in. I took off the dog leashes and whipped a Zorro– decapitating the stinkbug. The body flew somewhere but the head and antennae are still on the door. WHIPT-PTASH!

  I do agree they smell but nothing worse than milkweed or any other regular bugs, but if you are allergic to them, you may have to try the bottle technique. Good luck.

  -Burpee Customer Service rep

• 91 Marilyn // Oct 5, 2007 at 8:16 am

  I found out yesterday that the horrible bugs that have been invading my home through cracks at the sunny windows are the Asian Stink Bugs - according to the local coop extension - they are the first in my area. I live in a suburban neighborhood with houses close by that have bushes and grass all around them. My house, however, has been a construction site for almost a year with all trees and plants cut down - so I tried to figure out why the bugs should invade here. This morning I read that one of their host plants is a butterfly bush. I bought one from Whole Foods (even though the leaves looked kind of sickly thinking I could restore it) when I moved in to the house in August, and I put it on my front porch where it died in a few weeks. Could this be a source? - Purchasing plants at wholesalers/retailers that might be imported from abroad? Don’t know if my neighbors have this problem, but my surrounding terra situation is such that you would think my house would be immune. I only have one house plant - a bonzai that I’ve had for several years. Otherwise, no green in immediate vicinity. Thank you all for contributing to solving this very serious problem. Let’s stay in touch! Like you, I am trying to find a solution and will let you know if anything seems to work.

• 92 kv in nh // Oct 5, 2007 at 6:24 pm

  we use alcohol spray to kill everything… spiders, flies, stink bugs, everything!!!! Just spray them and in suffocates them or something. I don’t notice a stink if I do that- just be careful of spraying alcohol on furniture- as it will leave stains…. even on the black plactic surface of a t.v. or something - it looks more grayish or like it has faded. But, I never touch the stink bug- only spray then vacuum when dead. I first encountered them 2 yrs ago in New Hampshire when I moved here- they are just nasty & I also freak out b/c they just panic you when they fly at you- no help with preventing though, only how to rid of them (less chemical, won’t come back out of vacuum, don’t have to touch or squash or flush them) Will check in for updates and any further info. P.S. the season just started here- hoping for the best.

• 93 donna // Oct 5, 2007 at 7:59 pm

  I have these bugs so bad I hate coming home. The first thing i do after work is come home and kill bugs! My sons room is in the back of the house and is the main problem. We kill about 20 to 30 a day in his bedroom. I have about 2 or 3 a day on my sliding doors which are in my living room and lead to the back yard. I never open these doors anymore ever. And they are still finding a way in. I am having the tree in my yard cut down since it is right near my sliding doors and my sons bedroom window. it is so disgusting! my son sleeps on my sofa bed cause his room is so infested he doesnt want to sleep in there! So far i have only had one this year in my bedroom. I am sick of it! they are really making my life miserable!

• 94 donna // Oct 5, 2007 at 8:04 pm

  Oh, I live in pennsylvania in bucks county. I can’t believe there is no way to stop this problem. Something really needs to be done! Even if i move i might be moving to a house that has them in every room! My mom lives about 5 minutes away and has not even had one. Why my house? I don’t mind a few but 20 or 30 a day is sick! my son has one land on him now and them while he is on his computer. thank god he is not scared of them. he hates them too but he doesnt freak out. I barely go in his room other than to help him dispose of the bugs once a day.

• 95 Ellie // Oct 6, 2007 at 1:12 pm

  We live in eastern Pa and have seen too many of these also. The only way to stop them from coming into your home is to seal up everything as best as you can, when they do get in we found that if you put several squirts of Ajax super degreaser (lemon scented) dish washing liquid into a coffee can or container with a lid and 3 inches of water then shake, tap the bug into container with lid, close lid, they do die immediately! This has worked for us very well. Also for those who can build things,we saw that there are traps for them, although we could not find what the traps are baited with??? We also called a few garden centers and they have the organic insecticides, we did not try this yet,

  DO NOT vacuum them, omigosh they are still alive in the bag/canister and will emit that AWFUL odor thru out your home.

  Hope this helps everyone!!

  Yours truly,
  Ellie

• 96 fran from bucks county // Oct 6, 2007 at 8:28 pm

  HELP!!!!!!!

• 97 Sally // Oct 7, 2007 at 9:33 am

  ok….so I live in York, PA and we started getting the stink bugs last fall…this year they are back, but I have not opened my windows this year because they came in through the screens. We have had very few in the house this year…last year I killed them all winter. I have found that Vicks Vapo Rub deters them from landing on your doors…I put it around all the door jamss and weather stripping and they don’t like the smell…need to reapply every couple weeks, but if you can keep them off the doors and windows until a good frost, you may prevent them from entering your house…just a thought
  sally

• 98 gracie // Oct 7, 2007 at 12:09 pm

  Update on spray purchased from www.bugspray.com
  We have been finding dead bugs on the decks. Yesterday we sweap up about 75 - 100, so it is working. They seem to start there attact starting around 2: PM and allways come in from the west landing on the sunny side of the house. Even thou the spray says it lats several weeks we spray the house when we see them coming (we purchased enough to make 128 gallons. It seems to work best when we add the sticker product to the spray. Hopefully if we can keep them from getting behind the siding and under the shingle edges we can break the cycle of them nesting in our house during the winter. I have read it takes a couple of years to finally be rid of them. We have not had any in the house, only when you open the door but we do not want them living in the craks. I will post again to let you know how many deads ones we see. When I spray up under the Hardi siding I see them coming our and also they come out from under the single edges. If the spray, sticker and dust for attic works it will be well worth the money spent.

• 99 Vickie // Oct 7, 2007 at 2:29 pm

  I have noticed a decrease in these monsters but figure it’s because the weather here in York, PA has been in the high 80’s…wonder if the onslaught will begin again when the temp starts to drop in a few days and fall really sets in? I have flushed the 2-3 I have found inside my house but today for the heck of it, tried an earlier suggestion… I put about an inch of water with dish detergent in a plastic container, dropped a live one in and put the lid on, it immediately flipped to its back, big mistake, I swear, it was limp and non-moving within seconds…now appears quite dead!!! Although I don’t want them in my house, this method of disposal is definitely favorable to smashing them or wasting water to flush them down the toilet… so I put water and dish detergent in a spray bottle and have gone around all windows and doors…fingers crossed. Will also try the alcohol suggestion and the Vicks vapor rub! Thanks!

• 100 Aarika // Oct 7, 2007 at 7:57 pm

  We live outside Winchester VA and this is the first year I have ever seen these nasty creatures. Our whole area ia covered in them. When we go to the park we have to brush them off the playground equipment so my daughter can play. I probably vacum up 3 dozen of them in the house a day and they keep coming back!!!! I’m at whits end trying to get rid of these things.

• 101 Ellie // Oct 7, 2007 at 8:51 pm

  Hello again~~~
  Another idea, we sprayed Ultrathon (an insect repellent which says splash and sweat resistant) on the window screens and around doors, it is working! The bugs do not seem to be coming back now, they were landing on the screens, but flew off again, yay! Also we noticed tiny reddish orange bugs starting to land on our windows,these are the offspring, first time we saw these,ugh!

  On a lighter note, while researching this problem, I saw someone asking where they could buy stink bug costumes for children for halloween, lol!, can you just imagine the horror of answering the door to find a 3 to4 foot tall sting bug pressed up against your door asking “Trick or Treat”??!
  Yours truly,
  Ellie

• 102 Ralph // Oct 8, 2007 at 5:13 pm

  I’ve put essential lemongrass oil - known to kills ants - diluted by 40-50% water in a dropper and inserted potion along cracks and window runners where they were coming in 40-50 strong/day. Today is 4th day and there have only 1 or 2 a day for the past 4 days. Will continue to use it daily hoping it’s repelling them. Hope they don’t show up somewhere else! Has anyone else tried this?

• 103 gracie // Oct 8, 2007 at 9:37 pm

  Another update on the www.bugspray.com product we are using. We have been spraying around the eaves of the house and the sides of the house and are finding approximatly 100 dead a day so it is working. We aren’t getting them inside the house (new construction) but we know from last year they wintered in evey out side crack, undering siding and under the edges of the singles. The spray is supose to last several weeks but we have been spraying every couple of days when they start to bombard the house. It looks like we have babies and adults. Most of them are brown on top with light brown underneath but yesterday I saw one that was green and brown, I think we have more than one kind. What do the ones look like that are attacking your homes? I wish I could find what attracts them.

• 104 Gracie // Oct 9, 2007 at 8:09 am

  I just found this site of how to build a trap for stink bugs.
  http://ufinsect.ifas.ufl.edu/stink_bugs/stink_bugs.htm

  I hope I can figure out how to make one as it would be great to have this in the fall and spring when they come out again.

  If anyone makes one let us know.

• 105 Vickie // Oct 9, 2007 at 11:32 am

  what makes the stinkbug enter this trap?? it isn’t made clear on the site.

• 106 Marty // Oct 12, 2007 at 9:59 am

  Hello everyone, One word okay 2, Eucalyptus oil.. Add to mild soap ( not detergent as it will break down oil) to spray or just use a small paint brush on all entry ways or areas they are hangin out.. I think they dislike the smell. I wanted to find something they disliked as mush as I did them… it must also erase what they leave to come back as I have not seen not one this year except on vacation… I stumbled onto this by accident but I’m so glad I did now if I can keep birds from flying into my windows I’ll be set…

• 107 Sally // Oct 12, 2007 at 4:07 pm

  Marty, how much eucalyptus oil do you add to the soap…is it soapy water?…I was just using Vicks Vapo Rub for the same type of effect.
  sally

• 108 Gracie // Oct 18, 2007 at 8:35 am

  The spray from www.bugspray.com works. We have dead bugs now every day on the decks and even on the ground around the house. If any one has them wintering under the siding, single edges and other cracks spray the house. We hung out the windows the spray up under the single edges. The 2 gallon sprayer we purchased from the same company will spray about 20 feet.
  We will spray again when they begin to come out in the spring and hopefully we can break them from using our home to winter down.

• 109 Cheryl // Oct 20, 2007 at 5:58 pm

  This is like a plague straight out of an Alfred Hitchcock nightmare! I live in the Harrisburg PA area (New Cumberland) and have been trying to cope with these things since last year. For a while last winter we seemed to have ‘one-a-day’ inside - my bf tried the kinder, gentler approach of throwing them outside (to freeze) - to no avail. Two weekends ago, we killed 40 - 50 in one day (mostly by flushing). I kind of like the duct tape idea - I think we’ll try that to avoid handling them. I remember years ago when this area was first besieged by earwigs, and how disgusting everyone thought that was - that’s nothing compared to these things. Here’s what bothers me the most - most everyone seems to think they don’t do much harm, but in my experience they’ve been very destructive to outdoor vegetation, and indoors they are chewing my houseplants to smithereens. I’ve found them underwater in containers of rooting cuttings, I’ve found plants sheared off at ground level in their pots with their roots destroyed, and on and on. I’ve always had a lot of plants indoors and out (which may be why they hang here), but I refuse to sacrifice them in this battle!! I too live in an old leaky abode, and can’t fathom being able to completely seal them out, but will try treating the outside, starting tomorrow….! YUCK!

• 110 matt // Oct 31, 2007 at 1:07 am

  jesus
  Ive been killing 6-7 a day in my room with soapy water 2maro i go to home depot for chemicals… ductapes around my windows and spread eucaliptus oil everywhere

• 111 KATE // Nov 10, 2007 at 11:14 pm

  I live in PA too and just today was taking out winter clothes and putting away summer ones and found stinkbugs in EVERY piece of clothing, on some old dolls, in my sweaters in the closet. I have HAD it!! But the worst time was about two weeks ago when I got into bed and OMG!!!! I pulled back the covers and found them EVERYWHERE in little clusters of 4 or 5. I think I pulled at least 30 or 40 out of my bed covers; needless to say, I was FREAKED. And now that I see that they’re BACK or maybe reproducing!!!! I rent an old cottage and I can’t use ANY bugspray because I am deathly allergic to pesticides. Maybe my landlord would VAPO-RUB the house? O help!!

• 112 Josey // Nov 13, 2007 at 12:39 pm

  I live in western PA (about 10 miles outside of Pittsburgh) and started seeing these things in my bedroom a little over a month ago. I believe they were living in my window unit AC that I had sitting in my room until my husband could put it away. When I put two and two together (thanks to Matt’s comment on 9/26), I boxed up the AC, sealed the whole thing with tape and put it in the garage about 3 weeks ago. I’ve caught about 8 of them in total, all on the second floor and mostly in my bedroom (better there than my little one’s room) so I’m hoping that I got lucky and cut off their entrance early. I did not see them last year, but I’ve only been in my house for exactly one year this week. This morning, I saw a few dead ones on the floor of my garage. I can’t imaging that they got out of the box, but I was glad to see that they were DEAD. Now, if I could only figure out what caused their demise (maybe the car exhaust got to them combined with the cold temperatures). Too bad I can’t duplicate that in my house. I’ve been surfing the net trying to keep myself educated about these things as I don’t want it to get too out of control. From what I’ve been reading, I’ll probably see more next year…..

• 113 enihsnoom // Nov 21, 2007 at 12:38 pm

  We were visiting Lititz , PA in September and our trvel trailer got ifested with these pesky bugs. I thought I had them all cleared out before we left.
  When we arrived home in Calfiornia I found two more of them hiding in hte trailer. I took them to the County Agricultural Extension Servcie to confirm what I suspected they were from the internet.
  My trialer is now quarantined and will be fumigated in the next couple of days by the state. These stink bugs are on the quarantine list.
  If you have them call your local Agricutural Extension Sercie. They should be able to assist you with getingri of the pests. They also probably wnat to know more of what you hve to help irradicate the pests.

• 114 Nancy // Nov 28, 2007 at 1:46 pm

  Well, hopefully the swarming period is over for most of us because they are snoozing away in our walls and under our siding (though a bunch came out at my house on Thanksgiving because of the warm weather). But a few remarks:

  Marilyn, buddleia, or butterfly bush, IS something that stinkbugs particularly like, but that doesn’t mean that they arrived ON the bush. They do fly, and they’ve been spreading out from Allentown (where they first hit the US, coming in on a packing crate from China) for a few years now, and they are all over the philadelphia area. my guess is that your neighbors just haven’t noticed them yet, but they’ve got them. I’m thinking of ripping out our butterfly bush too, but there are other ornamentals they like, so it may be pointless. I’ve been trying to get hold of the entymology graduate student who is writing a dissertation on these things–the one to whom we should all have sent our stinkbugs by now–to find out what else they really like, but haven’t been able to reach her. I did learn that they breed on weeds, so this spring be sure to get active with your RoundUp and scufflehoe to clear out weeds before they get a chance to breed on them.

  Ellie: yes, you have to throw your vaccuum cleaner bag out after you vacuum the bugs up, silly! Vacuuming itself doesn’t kill them. Put the bag in a plastic bag with a tight seal and put in the garbage.

  Kate: OK, you win the prize for worst horror story. I’m going to stop complaining.

  Marty, Sally, and Gracie: Good going! Thanks for the constructive suggestions. The eucalyptus/ Vicks suggestion probably interrupts their “hibernation” signal, since that is motivated by smell (this is all instinct driven, after all). Those instructions for the trap are complicated, though, has anyone tried to make one yet? That Florida company is sitting on a potential gold mine if they can go into production.

  enihsnoom: ah, the Cornell entymologist warned me about people like you! (just kidding) It is precisely RV’s and trailers that are responsible for the spread of these things all the way up to Maine!! The quarantine, I suspect, applies only to trailers and RVs, most state Depts of Agric are taking a “this is a nuisance, not a threat, so we don’t have to do anything” attitude. In Southeastern PA, the Dept of Agriculture KNOWS that the stinkbugs are here, we don’t have to call them! Except, of course, in order to make ourselves more of a nuisance than the bugs themselves: THAT might motivate them to do something!!

• 115 Nancy // Nov 28, 2007 at 1:49 pm

  Oh, one more thing I found out: you can buy tiny teeny pinhead-sized wasps called trichogramma that will eat the stinkbug eggs or larvae when they are laid next spring. The website is gardensalive.com

• 116 Cassie // Nov 28, 2007 at 3:01 pm

  My dog went to sniff one of these big brown stink bugs and i believe the bug sprayed him w/something? My dog ran off and couldnt open his eye for about an hour. Do any of you know if this bugs spray is harmful to animals?

• 117 Michele // Nov 29, 2007 at 8:45 am

  I am still killing one or two of these bugs a day…
  I am going to order either the baygon aerosol
  or the deltamethrin dust from the bugspray website. Has anyone used either of these products in their home, and which one do you recommmend?

• 118 Dennis // Nov 29, 2007 at 10:34 am

  I have used both baygon and deltramethrin dust. The Baygon has an odor to it and tends to scatter the bugs. So they will just move from one room to another.

  The dust is more effective but longer to work.

  Frankly, once they are in your house there is little you can do. I had this problem last year. What I did was waited until spring when they leave on their own and then started sealing every crack and crevice I could find throught out the summer. In the fall I sprayed the exterior of the house with Cypermythrin concentrate. So far this fall I have had few bugs in the house (maybe 1 every two weeks).

  Dennis

• 119 Michele // Nov 29, 2007 at 10:55 am

  Thank you Dennis for all your comments…I
  will follow your advice and hopefully have a bug free house next year!

• 120 Diane // Nov 29, 2007 at 1:18 pm

  I get the bugs in the summer and they dwindle down a lot in the fall although I still am killing about one a day. I think spraying the house with the Cypermythrin concentrate should probably be done in the Spring. I will begin sealing my house now and just deal with the ones that are already in.

• 121 Gracie // Nov 30, 2007 at 8:57 am

  Hello to all. I believe we are useing the same products suggested by Dennis. We purchased them from www.bugspray.com We sprinted the attic area with the power, and have sprayed the entire exterior with the spray. We purchased enough to make 128 gallons and have sprayed several times. We find many dead so it is working.
  Diane you see them during warm weather as that is their active season, during winter they are under your siding, single edges or any other crack they can find. If you can spray the out side of your house now you can kill a lot of the ones that have beded down for the winter. Come Spring they will leave but will return next fall. They mark their winter shome with a scent. We are going to spray again in the spring when we see them leaving as to kill as many as possible, but now is the time to try and break their cycle.
  We are going to spray the exterior again in the next few days hopeing to run moreout of their hiding place. I read it takes a couple of years to break the cycle.
  I would not get rid of the butterfly bushes, as we live on the Outer Banks of NC and have no flowering bushes at this time. NEW CONSTRUCTION no land scapeing yet, only Oak trees, water bushes, pine