14 Ways To Get Rid Of Stink Bugs – How To Make Your Home An Unfriendly Target!

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Have you wondered – “How to get rid of stink bugs”? These chestnut-colored marmorated stink bugs from eastern Asia incidentally found their way to North America.

They can be a genuine issue for any household, as they can be a genuine issue for any household, as these intrusive pests like to spend the winter inside your home.

Got a stink bug problem? Before you call the exterminator, try out these 14 simple tips to safely eliminate stink bugs in your home or garden.Pin

You may discover stink bugs sticking to your window screens and entryways in the fall, gathering inside your home in winter, or just crawling through cracks in your doors and onto your floors!

While stink bugs don’t chomp, attack the clothes in the washroom or crunch attire, they do have one issue: they stink. Stink bugs discharge a foul smell when they’re bothered or debilitated. 

In the wild, this odor gives predators a warning. In a home setting, the foul odor stays long past the time the green stink bug dies since it sticks to whatever this creepy bug touches.

Outside, stink bugs devour plant material. They can potentially cause a huge loss in profits by feeding on cultivated plants and crops. 

Stink bugs bring down plant productivity by approximately 90 percent, making it unfit for the crisp utilization showcase and bound for handling.

In this article, we’ll dive deep into all the details of stink bugs in garden, including how to get rid of stink bugs in garden.

Identification of Stinkbugs

The large majority of these irritating insects are an inch long, with some grown-up stink bug eggs that can grow to be 1.7cm long and have a shield-like shape. 

Stink bugs generally show up during the spring season, and they populate different locations across the world.

In its native range, the brown marmorated stink bug experiences upwards of 70% parasitism from a number of hymenopteran egg parasitoids. 

A stink bug on a green leaf with text about eliminating smelly stink bugs.Pin
Photo Credit: Instagram @usfws

However, the parasitism rate for native egg parasitoids in the eastern United States is significantly lower, often below 10%.

The family Pentatomidae, to which these bugs belong, contains around 900 genera and more than 4700 species. The most common are chestnut, green, rice, Southern, gray, and brown Marmorated stink bugs. 

Other family sorts incorporate shield bugs and chest bugs. Most are distinguished by their shield, the solidified area of their thorax that gives them the presence of being protected.

The trademark stink — some depict it as the scent of spoiled cilantro — originates from organs situated on the thorax.

It’s discharged as a protective instrument and can be an irritation for those working in their garden or, particularly, if found in groups, on the ground, or on the sides of trees.

Crop hosts include apple, pear, peach, grape, blueberry, soybean, tomato fruit, and corn. Several ornamental and landscape plants are also used by the brown marmorated stink bug, including the princess tree (Paulownia), maple, and ash. 

Although they can feed in leaves and stems, reproductive structures, such as corn ears, tomato and pepper fruit, seeds, and pods, are preferred feeding sites. Populations can build rapidly once flowering is initiated. 

Stink bugs are voracious and will take a bite from whatever plant they stumble upon. They are inclined toward the juicy parts of the plant. However, these bugs can easily adjust to new conditions as plants slowly start to dry out in autumn.

A stink bug on a plant stemPin
Photo Credit: Instagram @prwildlife

Brown marmorated stink bug eggs hatch into small black and red nymphs that go through five molts before becoming adults.

Eggs are usually located on the underside of the leaves of host plants. As the embryo develops, it may become visible through the egg, with the eyes appearing as two red spots. 

Trissolcus japonicus (Ashmead) has been identified as a potential classical biological control agent of the brown marmorated stink bug. 

The brown marmorated stink bug’s association with human-made structures has made it an adept hitchhiker; parked vehicles, including recreational vehicles and cargo containers, can serve as desirable overwintering sites for the brown marmorated stink bug.  

Nezara viridula adults are bright green and about 1/2 inch long. Early instars are pale yellow, and late instars are green.

Eggs are white to pale yellow. Life cycle Stink bugs develop through three life stages: egg, nymph, and adult.

The samurai wasp was imported into the United States and held in quarantine while being tested for efficacy and host specificity. 

Other stink bugs in Florida, such as Euschistus servus and the leaf-footed bug Leptoglossus phyllopus can cause cat-facing injury. 

The first instar baby stink bugs are approximately 2.4 mm long, with a black head, thorax, and an orange-red abdomen.

Damages Caused by Stinking Bugs In The Garden

The most harm stink bugs usually bring to a crop is only aesthetic; however, in some cases, these pests can prompt early rot and waste.

stink bugsPin
Photo Credit: IG @mike.ranks.animals

Some are beneficial predators of pest insects, including Perillus and Podisus species, such as the spined soldier bug (Podisus maculiventris) and two-spotted stink bug (Perillus bioculatus). 

Their common name is because they can excrete fluid with an unpleasant odor when disturbed. Over 50 stink bug species occur in California. 

While this parasitic wasp favors the invasive brown marmorated stink bug, it may also attack stink bugs native to British Columbia.  

In spite of the pin-prick puncturing, which results in visual imperfections, the insects likewise infuse a digestive catalyst, causing staining as it spreads through the plant’s vascular system.

Related: How To Get Rid Of Stink Bugs in the Garden

Given the choice, the nuisances will dependably feed on foliage, but they are tenacious and will feast upon whatever’s accessible, including seeds and stems.

Commonly, stink bug feeding damage does not become apparent until after plant tissues grow, by which time the stink bugs may no longer be present.

If these bugs are found on fruit trees or plants that produce food, then you will see brown spotting on the fruit as evidence of a bug infestation.

How To Control And Get Rid Of Stink Bugs

Various traps have been designed for home use, with varying levels of success. 

Biological Control: Native natural enemies have not been effective at controlling populations of the brown marmorated stink bug in its invasive range.

Stink bugs on ClematisPin
Photo Credit: IG @thurstontalkwa

Here are various ways on how to get rid of stink bugs on plants:

  • For any kind of unwanted crawling visitors coming into your home, the first thing you have to do is find their entry points. More often than not, they will come through splits or holes in windows, debilitate fans and roof lights, and from behind baseboards. Fill these holes using cement or something similar so no more bugs can creep into your home.
  • Once the entry points have been fixed, the next step – stink bug pest control. To dispose of any stink bugs that you find in the house, pick them up with a paper towel or a plastic pack and flush them down the drain, or in winter, just toss them outside, and they will freeze from the low temperatures.
  • Make sure you don’t ever squish stink bugs: they are named for a reason! It is always best to dispose of them in drains.
  • Use a  solution of soapy water to spray on the bugs. This is a perfect cure if you have bugs on your drapes and dividers. Fill a spray bottle with water and include some liquid soap (it is best to choose one with a pleasant smell). Spray the area with the mix, and place a bowl of water underneath the bug. Tap the bug it into the water with a stick or an old toothbrush, and pour the water outside.
  • If you have a bug infestation on your carpets, another easy control method is to vacuum them. However, you need to clean the vacuum bags or empty your vacuum immediately, as the bugs inside might make the vacuum cleaner stink.
  • Use insecticides on them. Once they stop moving after you spray them, use a broom and dustpan to remove them from your home.
  • These stink bugs breed in spring. If you ever spot a brown stink bug near your green leafy plant, look for its eggs and throw them in soapy water, or remove that leaf and dip it in insecticidal soap. It won’t hurt your plants but will kill stink bugs and eggs.
  • You can use yellow sticky traps near infected plants to catch these pesky stink bug nymphs.
  • Always keep your garden areas clean and debris-free so that you don’t encourage the breeding of bugs.
  • There are many natural remedies that you can use, like kaolin clay, which helps prevent stink bugs from laying eggs and munching on plant parts.
  • Inside your home, apart from soap sprays, you can also use cedar sprays to repel these stinky bugs.
  • There are lots of beneficial bugs and animals that feed on stink bugs in nature. You can encourage them to develop by creating the perfect habitat for them. Some of these helpful critters include the minute pirate bug, praying mantis specieslacewingsladybugs, spiders, toads, and birds.
  • If nothing is working for you and you keep seeing stinky fellows returning to your plants, then it’s time to use pesticides. Always opt for natural and organic pesticides like neem oilDiatomaceous earth (excellent for bug control), pyrethrin, etc. Even though they are natural, these eco-friendly pest killers are tough to kill stinky invaders. Read – Does Neem Oil Get Rid of Stink Bugs?
  • If all else fails, Cypermethrin showers can, at times, also be successful and are effortlessly debased in soil and on plants. Huge infestations may require the assistance of an authorized pest management professional to help with the extermination.

Other management tactics—such as trap-and-kill along orchard perimeters, trap cropping with a perimeter of sunflower or sorghum in vegetables, and row covers on vegetables—show promise for effective non-chemical control. 

Though they are harmless, stinkbugs can be quite a nuisance to humans. When they are killed, frightened, or disturbed, they emit a terrible smell.

Many stink bug traps and repellents are available, but there is a very simple and cheap method of making a trap.

All you need is:

  • An empty 2 Liter soda bottle
  • Cut the top off
  • Flip it over, taping it in place

Place a battery-powered light in the bottle, use electrical tape, and run it around the bottom half of the bottle. That is it! Watch this video for details.

It is an indisputable fact – bugs are annoying. Stinkbugs are on a whole other level, and just like their name suggests, you probably would not want them around you.

Save yourself a trip to the grocery store and make your own bug spray!

With everyday household items, make your own stinkbug exterminator following these simple steps.

Close-up of a patterned shield bug on dry plant material.Pin
Photo Credit: Instagram @borilikesbugs

Paul Abram, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, states, “Working with community scientists gives us a chance to interact with people with a wide variety of perspectives and broaden the reach and scope of our research to places that we wouldn’t normally be able to work. 

We often learn things about our study systems that we otherwise never would by interacting with people about their insect finds.” 

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