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| Image from Stink bugs - Planet Orange |
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| Image from Stink Bugs Are Active on Fruiting Vegetables | Kentucky Pest News |
Imagine planting a garden in the spring and tending to it all summer. You're looking forward to your delicious vegetables and pumpkins and squash. But all of a sudden, unwanted guests pour into your property and eat your produce. Worse yet, after they have devastated your crops, they attempt to invade your home! And they really are bugging you!
The intruders you see in the images above are the very reason my family hasn't planted a garden this year. These nasty guys are stinkbugs. The last few years in August and September, stinkbugs have appeared in our yard and tasted our produce before we even had the chance! They swarm into our yard like a platoon of brown-armored soldiers, and when they have eaten enough plants, they attempt to invade our home. Their intentions are to reside in our house and avoid the frosts of October and November and the subsequent days of snow.
Stinkbugs were first seen in the United States in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 1998. There's a theory that they were accidentally transported to America on ships from China. To learn more about stinkbugs and their habits, check out this link: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug — Entomology — Penn State University. They are an invasive species, and have been causing chaos ever since. As opposed to many other insects, they cannot be exterminated with regular pesticides. They also don't have many predators; in my neighborhood one of their only known predators is my family's dog!
The problem with stinkbugs is that once they get into your home, they cannot be exterminated with normal means. When they are disturbed or smashed, they are certain to give off an unpleasant odor. Believe me, you do not want this smell in your house. One of the best methods for killing stinkbugs in your home is capturing them in a plastic bag and tying the bag shut; they will suffocate. A second method is to spray them with soapy water and then drop them into a cup of soapy water. There are commercial traps that supposedly give off pheromones, but I am not sure if these work. Or you could just borrow my dog!
I hope you'll find my suggestions useful, because the notorious buggers are out for chaos this time of year!
Wow, I had no idea these bugs ate the garden. Huh.. I have a garden every year and I have problems with those green worms but not stinkbugs. I see stink bugs outside all the time when I visit friends, but never at my house. I will keep this remedy in mind if I ever need to rid my area of them. Thanks for the information I love this type of reading! :)
ReplyDeleteThat is good information. Luckily, I haven't had to deal with stinkbugs yet. If I ever do though, I will keep your advice in mind.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Fudge
We have these every year. Not only do they stink and gross me out, we have found if they find you first they bite. These things are horrible. We have found the soapy water spray works for many unwanted visitors, these buggers included.
ReplyDelete