One day in early September, I was amazed when I walked into my neighbor's backyard garden to help her harvest her tomatoes. The
plants were covered with stink bugs, an invasive pest that has proliferated across the U.S. since it arrived in Pennsylvania as a stowaway in a shipping container in 2001.
The bugs don't do much damage in small numbers. They don't sting and they're not known to transmit disease. But when their
population gets out of control, they can wreck vegetable and fruit crops as well as ornamental bushes and shrubs.
The good news is, with winter coming, their populations are likely to die out, at least for several months.
The bad news is,
they want to spend the winter in your house. Indeed, I was sitting on my couch yesterday reading the paper and enjoying peace and quiet when the
tranquility of the moment was pierced by what sounded like a small helicopter flying overhead. It was a stink bug zooming to a landing spot on my balcony.
I did what I recommend you do:* Immediately
trapped the bug in a jar, then put the bug in another jar full of soapy water. I did not crush the bug. Doing so would have released its nasty scent (hence the name, "stink" bug.). I later flushed the soapy water with the bug down the toilet.
*
Examined my doors and windows for cracks that stink bugs can easily slip through. Yep, I found a big opening underneath my screen door where, even as I looked, another bug was trying to crawl through. I sealed it up, which is a good energy conservation measure for winter anyway.
I did not:* Spray an insecticide on the bug. The last thing you want to do is spray toxic chemicals inside your home, where they'll hang around long after the bug is dead but you're still inhaling them.
This is not an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Your home will not be invaded by an intense and terrifying horde of stink bugs. On the other hand, the bugs will become
a big nuisance if you don't get rid of them each time you see even one.
If you live in a southern climate where winter may not kill off bugs on outdoor plants,
try spraying them with soapy water. The soapy water dissolves their outer, or exo, skeleton, and will eventually kill them.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investigating whether tiny parasitic wasps can be used to foil the stink bugs without harming any other species, but that research will not be complete for at least a couple of years. Meanwhile, some companies are trying to develop traps that may be on the market next spring.