Most of you don’t realize it, but Cold Climate Gardening is host to a secret club, the Stink Bug Haters Club. It all started innocently enough with this post. But as more and more stink bug sufferers found the post and took advantage of the Subscribe to Comments feature, it started to take on a life of its own, with the various visitors sharing disgust and stink bug capture and killing tips. I haven’t had much trouble with these bugs myself, but I’ve always wanted to provide the people who’ve been commenting with more information. I finally tracked down some experts, Amanda Koppel and Dr. Kim Hoelmer, to write a guest post.
The changing of the seasons: spring brings with it new growth, summer brings the hot sun and swimming, fall is the harvest and a touch of cold, and winter… snow! But when the temperature starts to drop, you might find another visitor besides Santa Claus in your house.
Where Did They Come From?
The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (hereafter abbreviated BMSB), is an invasive species of stink bug native to China, Korea and Japan. It’s thought that BMSB first came to the United States in shipping containers arriving from Asia. The bugs were first identified in Allentown, PA in 2001, although they probably arrived here several years earlier.
Where Are They Going?
Since becoming established in Pennsylvania, the bug has spread throughout the Mid-Atlantic states as far south as Virginia. It’s also been spotted in several southern and midwestern states, and has become established on the west coast in Oregon. It’s still on the move! Since they are strong fliers, BMSBs may fly to a new habitat, but many hitch a ride in shipping containers or on cars.
How Stink Bugs Bug People
In autumn, the adult stink bugs aggregate on and inside houses, sheds and other structures looking for a warm place to spend the winter. Many people find this to be a nuisance because the BMSB gives off a characteristic odor when they’re crushed or disturbed. However, this bug might pose a threat to your plants, too. BMSB has been reported on 73 different plant species in Pennsylvania alone, including butterfly bush, lilac, buckthorn, tomato, and grapes. Feeding on most ornamentals is probably innocuous, but various kinds of fruit crops can also be damaged by BMSB feeding.
What Can You Do?
So how can you protect your homes and gardens? Caulking or physically sealing cracks around doors, windows and attic vents are the most effective methods that help to prevent them from entering, and eliminating weeds around your house will decrease temporary harborages. BMSB is a small insect, so it’s important to be diligent about sealing every opening or they still might find ways to squeeze in. You can also hire a professional pesticide applicator to spray insecticides around the outside of your home during the fall months when the stink bugs are looking for places to spend the winter.
Currently, there are no federal quarantines in place to prevent the spread of BMSB. Since the BMSB hasn’t become a major agricultural pest yet (although it’s believed that it could, based on its known host plant range), there are no established control methods for eliminating them from your garden. Picking them off your plants or catching them on sticky cards are two possible ideas. Pheromone traps for this insect are under development but are not yet available commercially. Most stink bugs are attacked by a variety of natural enemies, especially insect predators and parasitoids. Research has shown that native North American beneficial insects don’t show much interest in BMSB, however, and there are no commercially available beneficial insects that effectively attack BMSB. USDA entomologists are studying the feasibility of introducing effective BMSB natural enemies from Asia that are safe and specific to the stink bug and which would offer some long-term relief.
I know a lot of the commenters have already tried sealing up their homes to little effect. Many are desperate enough to try any kind of poison to get rid of these pests. So, on behalf of stink bug victims everywhere, I decided to ask a few more questions:
Do you know much about the pesticides that a “professional pesticide applicator” would use? Could you elaborate on why it should not be a DIY job to spray these chemicals?
AK: A pesticide applicator would likely spray an insecticide from the pyrethroid class. Examples of pyrethroids include deltamethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, and cyfluthrin.
This is not a do-it-yourself job! There are laws associated with pesticide application. For example, it is illegal to apply pesticides contrary to what the instructions on the label say. Further, it’s illegal if you allow your pesticide to drift onto things for which it’s not intended.
Even more important, pyrethroids are neurotoxins, and improper spraying can be very hazardous to your health. For example, if your skin comes into contact with deltamethrin, it can lead to redness, and facial paraesthesia can result if it comes into contact with your mouth or eyes. It’s best to let a trained professional handle these chemicals.
The website from which the commenters are buying pesticides provides this article on the stink bugs. Would you say it is accurate?
AK: I’d say it’s exaggerating a few facts. This bold statement from the site, Don’t be misled into thinking any stink bug is a good bug bothers me, because the spined soldier bug (Podisus maculiventrus) is a good guy! The spined soldier bug is NOT destructive and, in fact, eats a number of pest caterpillars in gardens and commercial crops.
Also, Try not to handle them and be careful if you do – not only will they release that nasty smell but many species are able to inflict a nasty bite! was a bit funny, since I’ve been working with stink bugs for 4 years and have never been bitten. Stink bugs don’t even have mandibles; they use a long “beak” (a tube) to pierce through the skin of fruits, veggies, and crop plants and suck out their food.
And, Stink bugs leave strong odors which linger for 6 months or more, makes little sense to me. I’ve had hundreds of collected stink bugs from wheat in a Ford Explorer, and their stink is gone from the car in 2-3 days.
It’s important to remember that one purpose of that webpage is to sell a product.
KH: Also, the website mistakenly implies that most of the stink bug species are capable of acting as pests in gardens/orchards. This is not the case at all. Only a handful of stink bug species are ever pests. Most species are completely innocuous as far as human interests are concerned. One additional error of fact in the ‘bugspray’ site – BMSB will NEVER EVER reproduce inside a home or structure. This occurs only on the host trees or shrubs, and only during the summer months. Bugs in the house during fall and winter are just hanging out, waiting for spring and the opportunity to return to the outdoors. You will only see adult BMSB entering your home, never the immature stages.
What do you know about cypermethrin, baygon, and deltamethrin, the three pesticides recommended by the aforementioned site?
AK: I mentioned deltamethrin above. Cypermethrin is used in household products to control ants and cockroaches. Baygon is another name for a number of pyrethroids used together.
Do light traps actually do much?
AK: Light traps aren’t a terrible idea, but I’m not sure how effective they would be. On the farm, we have a blacklight trap which we use to monitor for stink bugs. Based on the number of stink bugs caught, we estimate how many bugs might be in nearby fields. However, this is NOT for BMSB, and it doesn’t control large populations at all.
KH: When light traps (or their lethal cousins the bug zappers) are used indoors or in enclosed patios, they can be very effective at eliminating the insects in the immediate area. However, when they are outdoors and open to being seen from a distance, it’s important to remember that THEY ARE VERY ATTRACTIVE and even though they may trap or kill large numbers, they are attracting a larger number of stink bugs from further away to your home or yard than would have arrived without the traps being there!
For More Information
From Penn State University: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Entomological Notes (pdf)
From Ohio State University: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Fact Sheet (pdf)
From Rutgers University, New Jersey: Brown Marmorated Stinkbug – A Non-native Insect in New Jersey (pdf)
From The University of Florida: Featured Creatures: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
NEW! Stop Stink Bugs – a site devoted to the cause.
Amanda L. Koppel, Dept. of Entomology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
Dr. Kim Hoelmer, USDA-ARS Beneficial Insect Introductory Research Lab, Newark, DE
{ 120 comments… read them below or add one }
Jane A.,
I was thinking the same thing recently. If many of their eggs are in the trees, how in the world do we get at them, especially if the tree is huge. There’s this really old maple in my neighbor’s yard. It’s not taken care of, and a lot of it hangs over onto my property. I don’t know what kind of maple it is (it does produce those annoying helicopter seed leaf things…LOL!…not sure of the name of those things, but I’ve heard someone call them that once.) On a windy day in Spring, they fly off spinning around while landing just about everywhere. I don’t know why, but I think this tree just might by a haven for these bugs and their eggs. Another frustrating thought—while I’m doing my part of the work tackling this bug problem, all that time, effort, and money is going to waste because I know I’m only going to end up with some of my neighbors’ bugs.
I really wish there was some way to get at these bugs right now in the Spring and early Summer. I keep hearing that all we need to do is just tighten up the house to keep them out in the Fall, but that’s not getting at the big problem…controlling their population or eliminating them altogether. They just keep coming back year after year (and more of them). Grab stink bug with tissue, flush, repeat…it’s maddening. (I found several wandering my house this past weekend with company over…ugh!).
To Kelly:
I liked your post…it made me laugh “my gun was bigger and better”
About the Bengal spray stuff—I had heard about this stuff before, but I had forgotten the name of the product. It sounds like a great product. Now, do you have to spray underneath these beasts for this stuff to work? For instance, in the Fall, when dozens of them clung to the window screens, the bleach solution worked well when these things were soaked underneath, but if it got on top of them (on the shell), most just walked on by. Do you also know if the spray is effective for a period of time (say it’s sprayed on a window sill), or do you really need to have direct contact with the bugs for it to work? Thanks.
There are a variety of sprays you can use. I get them in my holly bushes, maple, oak, and crab apple tree. They are hard to spray because the eggs are on the underside of leaves. Good luck. I spray and the neighbors don’t, so I still get them in the fall.
I set my traps last week and got quite a few 30-50. It warmed up for a few days and then got cold again. I found a way to get them out without the shopvac. I had to cleared a shelf in the freezer and they died overnight. I dumped the box out in the trash and no messy cleaning.
Question for the experts: I think I have spotted stinkbug eggs on the leaves of my maple tree, what is the best way to destroy the eggs? Thanks!
To Jane A.:
Squish them!
~Amanda
Well, I’m back to my war. With a number of very warm, sunny days last week, our overwintering SB population has begun to emerge from the cracks and crevices where they have been cozy for the past few months. They don’t appear to be filled with energy like those we battled last fall but rather sluggish and and easily captured. My current solution indoors is to grab them gently with a kleenex and stuff them into a ziplock bag. I keep the bag handy and add to it each time I discover another. So far there have not been a number of them big enough to arm myself with the jar of dishsoap. Last fall, their shear numbers had me fighting a losing battle.
So discussions have sparked at work again – everyone wanting to know what to do about them. One fella spoke up and claimed to have the spray solution. He sent me to our little family owned hardware store for a product called Bengal Roach Spray. It is in a red can with white lid and yellow accent colors. It is a colorless, non staining and a practically odorless “dry powerful spray”. I paid $11.69 per 9 oz. can. It comes with a straw that attaches to the spray nozzle (like WD40). The main ingredient is Permethrin. The product was guaranteed to work. I couldn’t wait to try it out, so I went in search of a SB. Instantly – that sucker was dead! I sought out a few more – same result. I danced a happy dance on my deck spraying the can into the hedges that surround it. I sprayed it into door frames, flower pots, on my picnic table umbrella, and everywhere else I see the bugs.
Mind you know, they did not like it!!!! And I will probably have the smell of their retaliation to contend with for a few days. Though they fired a shot or two, my gun was bigger and better – and I have won this one.
I will revisit that little hardware store to stock up on this spray and then I will recommend it to anyone who asks. I certainly don’t want everyone to rush there and deplete the supply before I gets mines.
I’m convinced this is the least expensive, most effective remedy for me. I was so relieved to find this product as my battle has just entered its fourth year. It has been exhausting.
I read the post earlier about the lady who moved to Las Vegas to escape the stinky critters. Chuckled at the fact that she took such extreme action, and realized I am verging on doing the same thing. I am just that desperate to rid myself of them.
Best Wishes and Good Luck to everyone!
Kelly,
I’m in Keedysville and have had sucked a gazillion of these things up in the shop vac since March. I got 24 saturday afternoon in my sun room. I think they are in the attic.
I’m stopping to pick up some of the Bengal spray today thanks for the tip!
Denny – Thanks for the info. Just two questions, how do you apply the alcohol and where do you get it? Do you use a certain brand?
91% alcohol does kill them and is safe and cheap.. i bombed my house with rid fogger and killed hundreds living in my attic,alcohol after that to get rid of a few that made it through the fogger… will fog every month to be gone of these pests.. my daughter had a blanket filled inside with sb BABIES .. gross!!! alcohol is also good for bee’s & spiders
To Stinkbug Trapper — Best wishes to you on your endeavor. I think that’s great! I hope you make lots of money, and you’ll be helping a lot of people. Something positive should come out of this stink bug invasion.
If the two experts are still answering questions on here, I thought of a few more. Thanks in advance for your help. Here they are: Do these stink bugs ever lay eggs on tree leaves or is it only just in weeds and plant leaves? Are they attracted to any types of trees? (I don’t think I’ve ever read anywhere that they are.) I was wondering about this because my one nextdoor neighbor has this really big old tree in their backyard…I was told this tree is 100 years old or slightly over. The tree is not taken care of (hasn’t been trimmed in years and really needs it). It’s a type of maple…not sure which kind. Anyway, in recent years, I’ve been getting the boxelder bugs on the same 2 sides of house where the stink bugs love as well (the tree is not far from there). I’ve seen the boxelders fly around this tree and was wondering about the stink bugs (for some reason, the boxelders don’t upset me as much, and I rarely ever get them inside of the house too).
We’ve had a strange April heat wave here in Philly the last couple of days…temps in the 90′s. I’ve had 6 stink bugs (Ugh!) wandering my house this week. I took care of them (via the toilet flush). Each time I spotted one, they were perched or crawling along something colored white…this seems to always be the case, something colored WHITE or YELLOW. If one is flying around erratically inside the house, it will land on something white. Now, this might be a stupid question, but if you were to have darker siding or darken the color of paint on your home, would your house be less attractive to them…or wouldn’t that really matter?
Last one…just wondering about this—I first had the ladybug invasion several years back…they were pretty bad the first few years, but now I don’t see them. It seems they disappeared, and the boxelders, stinkbugs, and the W.C. seed bugs took over (I almost forgot about them…have seen a few of those nasties around too.) When I think back, all those tiny ladybugs weren’t such a big deal compared to today.
To Nikki in Philly:
“Do these stink bugs ever lay eggs on tree leaves or is it only just in weeds and plant leaves?”
Sure they do. In fact, when I was studying them in China two years ago, the leaves of trees was one of the first places I would look for eggs on a host tree.
“Are they attracted to any types of trees?”
Yup. If a tree is listed as a known host, then it means the BMSB could be attracted to it. If you go to the “More Information” links, you’ll see a number of trees listed as host plants.
“…if you were to have darker siding or darken the color of paint on your home, would your house be less attractive to them…or wouldn’t that really matter?”
I don’t know how much it would affect the bug as paint, but insects are attracted to some colors more than others, depending on their visible spectrum. Yellow, in general, is a very attractive color to insects.
As for the change in composition in your local nuisance pests, I don’t know what would cause that, although environmental factors seem likely.
~Amanda K.
Stinkbug Trapper – How long does it take to get a patent? I’ll be your first customer. More power to you. You’ll become so rich from it that you can move to a place that doesn’t have SBs.
I’m with you Jane, they stink. When I pick them up with a tissue I can smell them on my hands. Also when I found one in the sink and washed it down the drain, it went crazy and the stench was horrid. I don’t think they like water. I probably should have killed it first.
Have they found something that attracts them? I was thinking of putting a bug zapper in the house. They appear to gravitate twards the light. I’ll try anything.
I know I must sound like a nut, but they really worry me. They multiply faster than rabbits. I went from none to the house being infested in 3 years. What will happen next year? It doesn’t matter how clean your house is and there is no way to control them. It’s like an alien invasion.
PLEASE HELP mR. bEAVER COUNTY! Stink bug trapper! I’ll pay email me!
I sure do hope someone comes up with something for these bugs, because they really do “BUG” me. We live in Martinsburg, WV and they are all over the place…..everyone seems to have them…..even in our church they fly around.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let me know if you come up with something that will kill them.. Personally, I think I’m going to buy some old fly ribbons that we used to use on the farm when I was growing up.
Thank You.
The ivory, water, eucalyptus may be worth a try when clearing the traps. Death by shopvac is very smelly and then you have to clean it up. I wonder if drowning them in the trap would make for easy clean-up. Or, would it make it inhabitable for the next setting. One more thing to try. It doesn’t seem that anything keeps them away for long. I am sure some environmentalist would be upset and legions of demonstraters would show up at my home trying to save them!!!
I don’t get the idea of using the spray because you have to clean them up anyway. I grab them with a tissue and drown them. I also have dedicated a Dust Buster to the cause and 99 out of 100 stay inside and die. I put the Buster in a plastic wastebasket with a little 20 Mule Team Borax in the bottom and that seems to kill the ones who escape. We had all our screens replaced last fall but it seems to have done no good. I’m looking forward to Mr. Beaver County’s (my birth place!) invention.
Good for you, Stinkbug Trapper! Looking forward to the patent being approved. While Stinkbugs are definitely being studied, I am getting the impression that the experts are not looking for ways to eradicate them (as we in the Stinkbug Haters club are.)
And to all of those out there whose Stinkbugs don’t stink – well, more power to you! I’ve had the stink get on my skin (after being dive-bombed) and vigorous scrubbing, soap, etc. is no match for the stink they emit. In a word, they STINK!
Thanks for the post. I’d join the club.. these pests are all over my house!
To kevin l. :
The stink of a stink bug is not an identifying characteristic of the species. The easiest way to ID a BMSB is to look for the physical features in the picture before our article.
~Amanda K.
Approx. 1/4 cup Ivory dish liquid to 1 cup water. The eucalyptus oil can be purchased at a health food store. The soapy oil mixture smothers them; try to spray the underbody as their “shield” does protect them. Good luck!
Jane A., Westchester, PA –
Can you please give me a ratio of Ivory to water and where to get the eucalyptus oil?
Thanks.
Twitter: @resocki
I attend Penn State Mont Alto and I have started to notice similar bugs to the ones you mentioned, but i have killed them, crushed them, or saw them crushed on steps, but have not smelled anything. Is it a way to properly identify them.
Here we go, I hate them two. I hate the constant complaining from my wife the entire winter as the little critters burrow further and further inside the house as temperatures drop. We started getting them about 4 years ago, I live in Beaver county Pennsylvania. Our housing plan is relatively new and they pretty much cover the entire neighborhood in October. I am an environmental science major and reasearched quite a few invasive species. The BSMB is going to be a real bad one. Much like japanese beetles, carp, and many other pests from the far east.
I have seen as many others that the overwintering process is horrible. My entire house gets covered with them. They get in through the obvious places, garage doors, windows, eaves, chimneys, and in our plan SIDING. Any gap, space, groove, crack, they find it and get in. They also emit pheremones to mark the entrance and exit for the spring. (wouldn’t want to get lost) This scent also attracts future generations back to the wintering sites. I have noticed this the past few years. I have no instars on my bushes or plants during the summer, but in the fall look out thousands arrive. They tend to get in the same places, too. My ice cooler (big blue one with wheels), umbrella on the deck, and windows. I would have never thought the siding until I was power washing the siding and accidently hit a seam causing the siding to come off. They were stacked about an inch thick and all through the insulation, and styrofoam. I almost threw up when they came pouring out all over the deck. I filled the shopvac up pretty easy. It was a cool (40 degree) fall morning and they were sluggish. I talked to exterminators and others about this problem, they give all kinds of expensive solutions but no one I know has had any good results. It’s not like they can spray behind every inch of siding.
I thought that there has to be some sort of trap for them. I found one on-line the Florida stink bug trap, complete with directions on how to build one (free). Different kind of stinkbug down there.
I built three two years ago and caught 37 total bugs in the spring. I was very disappointed and decided to build my own trap that fall. I came up with three designs last summer and tested them in the fall.
Trap one was a bust, they all got out.
Trap two contained several thousand after a 48 hour period. They died by shop vac.
Trap three was packed after 48 hours about two pounds worth.
I put my black boxes around the deck, roof and other select locations. By the end of the fall I had one glad trash bag full of them, around thirty pounds.
I had some in the house this winter,but not the normal amount.
I have submitted two of the designs for patent and am working on a better way to extract the bugs. I am also in it for money, and will explain the trap after the patent and the science behind it.
Thanks for the advice. I will try the household formula when I see them, and that’s ideal for the deck (where I desperately need it).
At this point I don’t know where they are hibernating, nor do I know how many are there. I imagine that I am seeing the tip of the iceberg. I will have to call in a professional to get in the walls and attic and do the outside of the house. It was easier to get rid of roaches when I moved into an apartment in NYC than it is to get rid of SBs here and I can’t live with either one.
To Fanatic SB Killer: re: household products that will kill SBs, I use a mixture of Ivory dish soap, water and a couple of drops of eucalyptus oil in a sprayer. Kills quickly, it’s safe and the clean-up is a breeze. The OTC pesticides don’t work, I’ve tried them. The SBs are impervious to even the highly toxic sprays, such as Sevin.
To FSBK in Lebanon, NJ:
You have a pet in the house, and so the insecticide you’d use would have to be applied very carefully so no unintended targets would come into contact with it. There are no products registered to be used with BMSB in the house (just read the back of the products and you can see a list of what they’re intended for).
You might need to talk to a professional pesticide applicator to see what they can spray safely.
~Amanda K.
First, I want to thank you for all the information you have so generously imparted about the BMSB.
We used to see them in the back yard, before I even knew what they were, and my husband would say they were stink bugs. I had no clue. We then enclosed our back deck and there were hundreds of them inside the screened area facing the SE where the sun was strongest. They adhered themselves to the screen. I sprayed them with wasp spray and it took a long time, but they would fall over. I don’t know if it killed or stunned them because shortly thereafter the screens would be covered again.
This year, they have invaded my home. I have gone after them with a vengence. I live with a fly swatter in my hand. I can be in the middle of a conversation and if I spot one I have to go after it. They are awful, ugly, sound like B-52′s when they fly and have no redeeming factors. It is horrible to have company and they are all over the place. I think they are striking back now, one landed on me and when I knocked it off the smell was terrible. Some days I see one or two, but the warmer it gets the more that come out.
I have hesitated in using insectisides in the house because I have a dog and I worry about his safety. Are there any household products that will kill the bugs and not be harmful? Are there any over the counter pesticides that will kill these things? I was thinking of fumigating but I’m reading that that isn’t an answere. Will it work? Is a professional the only viable answere?
Thank you again for taking the time and effort to inform us. As you have probably guessed by now, they are driving me crazy. Please help!
To Kyle and Lindsey:
Here’s what my co-author, Dr. Hoelmer, has a few words to say about BMSBs, temperature, and egg laying:
“BMSB adults are definitely capable of living a long time. In temperate climates there is just one generation per year, which runs from summer to summer, spanning the winter months. Their eggs are laid on foliage only during the summer months (June – August). The nymphs that hatch from these eggs will become adults by fall, and by October or so, only adults will be seen. It is those adults that spend the winter inside homes and other protected areas. When spring arrives, they leave for the outdoors, begin feeding on plants, and the cycle starts over again. Some of these adults will clearly survive for many months – from summer or fall into the following summer – before they die. However, many of them will die during the winter and spring months, possibly because they were unable to store up sufficient food within their bodies to last throughout the winter, or from dehydration. Their cold temperature tolerance is not known, but they do not survive in areas with extremely cold winters, so freezing weather is very likely a limiting factor (this is why they seek shelter to spend the winter).”
Also, about control methods:
“Spiders will definitely capture and feed on the stinkbugs, so homeowners may want to think twice before eliminating all spiders and webs from the premises. Other insect predators that have been seen include assassin bugs (in the eastern US this group includes the large gray “wheel bugs”, so-called because of a cog-wheel-like structure on their back. Assassin bugs really are capable of inflicting a nasty bite!. A variety of predators feed on the egg masses of stinkbugs, killing them before they can hatch.”
To address your other questions, I’ll quote each one.
“If a few accidentally travelled with me, would they be able to survive in such dry conditions?”
Off hand, I don’t know, but it wouldn’t hurt to squish any pests that went with you, or even inspect your car beforehand. Unintentional spread is still spread.
“Can these bugs flatten like paper to slip through somehow?”
No, but they can fit into spaces that are small because the holes in your home could be larger than you think.
“How about a pure neem oil solution? Or, the garden mixture kind you can buy at the garden stores? I know there are some guidelines to follow when using neem. Does neem really disrupt their eating/mating habits, etc.?”
Neem is only effective when it’s ingested by insects. Since stink bugs stick their stylet into plants and suck out juice (think drinking straws), any neem on the surface of the plant would be ineffective.
Also, remember that using insecticides against the label recommendations is a bad idea.
~Amanda K.
I’ll admit it…I’m a proud member of the Stink Bug Haters Club. I’ve been a member for 4 years…going on 5 this year. Although, I would love to be able to tear up that membership card forever…I HATE these bugs so much! I was waiting in line at the post office a few weeks ago, and guess what I overheard people discussing/complaining about…these brown stink bugs.
I’ve come to the conclussion that it is impossible to keep these bugs out of your house. They have a unique force and determination to make it inside in September/October. Can these bugs flatten like paper to slip through somehow?
I’m dissappointed to hear about the parasitic wasps not working on these guys. I was going to try that as well. How about a pure neem oil solution? Or, the garden mixture kind you can buy at the garden stores? I know there are some guidelines to follow when using neem. Does neem really disrupt their eating/mating habits, etc.? Also, when do these bugs lay their eggs…spring or early summer? And, do they have a fondness for maple trees or just weeds and ornamentals?
Since there are experts on the line here, I thought I’d ask a few questions that may or may not have been answered in the original thread. (It’s a long thread and I just couldn’t read everything.)
What are the are the ways that BMSBs die naturally? I ask because I am visiting my parents’ home (my childhood home) and the bedroom I am sleeping in has lots of dead BMSBs all over the place. The bedroom isn’t used very often, but I’m sure they can’t have been there for longer than six weeks or so. How did they die? Can I replicate this cause of death for the few that are still living?
Some background: The house is over 200 years old, constructed with logs with brick covering the outside and plaster inside. The windows are typical of old construction — not airtight and not realistically sealable. The house is pretty big, so only a small part of it is heated to 68 in winter. The majority of the house is kept in the fifties because that’s the lowest we can set the furnace. It just so happens that the southern facing rooms of the house — the ones most prone to BSMBs (and box elder bugs) — are the ones that are not heated. My hypothesis explaining the BMSB deaths is that when the bugs come in during the fall, they survive for a while because of the sun warming the rooms. However, when it gets really cold, the sun can’t warm the rooms and the BMSBs start to die off. Not all of them die, and the ones that I have found that still survive live in the window curtains just above the rooms’ radiators.
This leads me to my questions. How cold does it have to be to kill a BMSB? For how long does the bug have to be at that temperature to kill it? Does moisture play a part? Instead of using neurotoxins as pesticides, could a homeowner just turn off the heat for a few days in winter (accounting for all pets and preparing the water pipes) to eliminate all the BMSBs in the house?
(By the way, I haven’t noticed any bad smells associated with the dead BMSBS, even when they are crushed.)
One more question: I am returning to New Mexico in a few days and I don’t want any live bugs to hitchhike with me and infest the desert Southwest. If a few accidentally travelled with me, would they be able to survive in such dry conditions? Overall the climate is milder than Pennsylvania, so they shouldn’t have problems in that sense.
Thank you for your previous help and I’d really appreciate it if you could answer my questions.
Amanda,
Thanks for the follow-up to my question about the parasitic wasps. I’m glad I didn’t waste my money and my time if they’re useless against the SBs. Please keep up your good work researching these bugs. As far as I can tell they have no benefit to the ecosystem, only downsides. Just like fleas and ticks.
Twitter: @mycornerofkaty
Kathy, I fear I’ve seen this fellow in my garden … he looks disturbingly familiar!
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Hi Jane!
As far as stink bug parasitoids go, Trichogrammatids are not the best critter for their biocontrol. In fact, there are no records in the literature of that family parasitizing anything in Pentatomidae (the family stink bugs are in). Further, no one has found it parasitizing any stink bug species in their surveys of stink bug natural enemies (myself included, both domestically and overseas).
The good news is that research really is ongoing. As the amount of research piles up about BMSB control tactics, the chances increase that we will figure out a reliable technique (whether it turns out to be biocontrol or not).
Biological control research is lengthy, and much of it focuses on making sure that the parasitoid we want to release doesn’t attack non-target organisms or otherwise upset the balance of native species.
~Amanda K.
Amanda,
Have you tested the trichogrammas(parasitic wasps) that are commercially available from Gardens Alive and Planet Natural as a predator against the eggs of the SBs?
I had really hoped that this non-toxic approach would work for me this year. Also, I have found that the non-toxic mixtures of soap and various oils are very effective in killing the SBs, while highly toxic insecticides, such as Sevin, have no effect at all. I’ve done quite a bit of backyard research and experimentation!
Happy Earth Day Everyone!
Let today be the day we stop killing our planet.
A big thanks for authors who took the time to consolidate the basic facts , all of which were actually contained within the original post, though spread out{and not to boast but near all of which posted by me, tvm
}).
I find it beyond ridiculous that the government will wait to the last minute to think about stopping a problem when it could be stopped before it does become one. They aren’t a pest yet, so let’s let them keep breeding until they are , that way it’s even harder to take care of the problem…. yeah, that makes sense. SOB BSMBs aren’t from here , aren’t supposed to be here and should have been stopped long ago.
I do want to add one thing, the author states that there is no “commercially” available pheromone traps (true, assuming in specific reference to the BSMB), but there are general SB pheromone traps that work and are available for use (maybe not at home depot or something but none the less available).
You are correct about these things having a nasty bite-I thought my son was crazy when he informed me it stung for 12 hours after the bite. I’m glad I found this article.
Kathy, Amanda Koppel and Dr. Kim Hoelmer,
Thank you very much for the article. You are awesome for doing this! We’re turning the issue over to Terminix (since we already have quarterly service with them anyway), and it helps to be pre-informed.
To Shady Gardener:
I can’t think of any predators off the top of my head, although I have heard of pets who have decided to tussle with a stink bug.
~Amanda K.
I see stinkbugs sometimes, but I just move them away and ignore them. Do they have natural predators??
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Twitter: @layanee1
I have seem them and I am in your club!
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Harborages give BMSBs a vacation spot. They’ll wait for host plants to develop there, and stick around afterward. If the bugs happen to still be around when temperatures drop, then your home is a warm spot nearby.
Weeds stink!
~Amanda K.
Isn’t it talking about weeds right up close to the house, which would encourage the stink bugs to use the house as their winter home? You surely can’t elimnate all plants, but you don’t want any extras near your residence.
To Jane A., in West Chester:
- Parasitoids don’t eat stink bug eggs, exactly… the adult parasitoid lays its egg inside the stink bug egg, and the developing parasitoid eats the developing stink bug embryo. A few weeks later, an adult parasitoid hatches out of the stink bug egg. I went to China 2 summers ago and was able to find one parasitoid on the BMSB egg, but it’s still being studied. Like we said in the article, “…no commercially available beneficial insects that effectively attack BMSB.” Definate, sound research is still underway.
- As for weeds, they’re a harborage. That means that the stink bugs will hang out there and wait for their actual host plants to develop. By eliminating weeds, you’re decreasing the number of places that the BMSB can sit near your garden, waiting for the things they eat to develop fruiting bodies.
~Amanda K., coauthor
One more question for the experts: This is not the first time that I’ve read about the importance of eliminating “weeds” from your yard to cut down on the BMSB population – but can the BMSB really distinguish between a weed and an ornamental or annual? This doesn’t make sense to me. I have many plants and some weeds – and my BMSBs seem to prefer the perennials and annuals and flowering shrubs, esp. those with berrries.
Should the advice really be eliminate all plantings from your yard?
Thanks again!
I have a question for the experts. I had read on the NPR “You Bet Your Garden” website that there were beneficial insects that would control the BMSB population, specifically parasitic wasps. The website mentioned that the parasitic wasps would eat the eggs of the BMSBs. Is this incorrect? I had planned on ordering the parasitic wasps soon – but will certainly not order them if they have no interest in BMSB eggs.
Thanks!
I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled for these guys.
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Twitter: @existentialgard
In the last two years, we have been overcome with the little stinkers, and this year seems to be worse. This article contains some much needed, sound advice. Thank you!
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Comments welcomed!
Twitter: @suburbangarden
Thanks for the info. That pest may be headed in my direction. Well, there is one good thing about stinkbugs – they’re about the only thing that feeds on Buckthorn.
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Thanx for the great info I learned neqw info for sure.
Twitter: @CountryGardener
Thanks for a very informative post. I’m always amazed at how upset people get with bugs like this. I usually just catch them and throw them outside. No big deal.
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