They’re creepy. They find their way in your home by the hundreds. And now is the time to wage war against stink bug invasion.
“Stink bug management is all about stopping them from coming into the home, “ said Rob Braden of Tomlinson Bomberger Landscape, Lawn Care and Pest Control from Lancaster, PA.
“Once the stink bug has entered the home, a vacuum sweeper is probably your best weapon,” he said.
You know the stink bug? They are the pre-historic looking brown smelly beasts that start to turn up all over your home in the fall. You find them everywhere… in your light fixtures, behind your books and in your laundry. 
They appear to be dead, but in fact, their metabolism is just slowed to a stand still. They are dormant. That is part of what makes them difficult to fight. Insecticides, like pyrethroids, are better at keeping stink bugs away rather than actually killing them.
“This lack of metabolism greatly increases the amount of time it takes for the insect’s body to process a residual insecticide,” said Braden, “Meaning that even a stink bug that has come into contact with an insecticide will take many hours, if not days, to die.”
So what to do?
Stink bugs are drawn inside your home as the weather begins to turn cool. They find areas where warm air leaks out of your home and wiggle their way in, through the same crevices that allow warm air out. This can be along windows, roof lines, and window air conditioners, said Braden.
Photo courtesty Paul Chaplin/Patriot-News
“The chimney is perhaps the most important area to address,” said Braden, “Especially a gas fireplace with a burning pilot light, and the flue opened a crack to allow the carbon monoxide to escape. This little bit of heat going up the chimney is enough to attract stink bugs, sometimes by the hundreds.”
Once inside your home, insecticides are again unhelpful. The bugs aren’t consuming anything because of their slowed metabolism, so nothing gets inside to harm the bugs.
If you don’t remember stink bugs from your childhood, that’s because they were accidentally introduced to Eastern Pennsylvania sometime around 1998. They are native to Asia and have no natural predators because they are toxic for birds and mammals to consume.
“Any time you introduce any species into a new environment, and that species has no predator,” said Braden’ “you are going to see a population explosion.”
Photo courtesy Paul Chaplin/The Patriot-News
Stink bugs have been moderately damaging to some agricultural crops. Dauphin County Master Gardener Shirely Halk said Penn State research has found stink bugs have been cosmetically damaging to the apple crops. So far, they are not sure what the extent of the damage will be. She has not yet heard of stink bugs harming corn crops.
Halk agrees that excluding them from your home is the best way to fight them.
If there is good news, it is that so far, stink bugs have not completely decimated agricultural crops and prove to be mostly annoying to homeowners.
“Stink bugs cause no damage to homes. They leave no droppings or stains,” said Braden.
The best defense against this gnarly houseguest is making your house a fortress of sorts. Seal off any areas that allow leaks and can draw in stink bugs. Consider adding some repellent defense by treating the exterior with an insecticide like a natural or synthetic chrysanthemum extraction.
Braden believes the repellent properties of the pyrethroids have the greatest impact.
And keep that vacuum cleaner handy.
Special thanks to Wendy Brister. As well as a hardy thanks to Rob Braden and Chad Diller of Tomlinson Bomberger Landscape, Lawn Care and Pest Control from Lancaster, PA.
5 Comments
I’ve wondered what these were. Had a few get in a couple years back. Had trouble getting them out. I see them every fall, hanging around the patio. Luckily they haven’t gotten back in!
Since posting this, I’ve heard from many readers, gardeners and farmers alike, that they have either had problems with stink bugs attacking their corn or that they have known of friends who tried to spray chemicals to deter stink bugs on corn. Anyone else know of this happening? Perhaps next summer we’ll have to explore organic ways to outwit these guys on our corn.
We’ve had significant stink bug damage to our tomato crop this season. At first it’s cosmetic damage, but they introduce bacteria that set up a fast-paced rot from the inside of the tomato. There’s some pepper damage, too. During the last two days as the neighbors’ corn is being harvested, they’ve found their way to our house. We couldn’t sit outside this afternoon for the dozens which constantly dive-bombed us. They’re beginning to feel like a plague.
Beth, sorry it’s so bad for you! I think all you can do is try to keep them out of the house. I’ve heard from other people who live near you that it’s horrid right now. Gosh and no natural predator….
My husband has a pretty good systematic way of killing them, with minimal invasions. I guess the difference is that his technicians powerspray and reach the places that they invading on even the 2nd and 3rd stories of the homes. He has plenty of videos displaying their treatments filmed by local media on their homepage here: http://www.dominionpestcontrol.com/
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