Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Adults, USDA Photo

The first specimens collected and identified in the United States were found in Allentown, PA in 1998, where they are believed to have arrived in a shipment from Asia. Like many invasive species these bugs have no natural predators here. They are rapid reproducers, giving rise to

2 generations per season and in some warm winter regions they produce 3. Being excellent flyers and great hitch hikers these stinkers have rapidly spread across the continent and are now found in over 30 states

and in Canada. California is their most recent conquest. 

Shortly after its introduction into the country, BMSB rapidly multiplied and spread throughout the Mid-Atlantic States where it quickly became a nuisance pest to homeowners, invading homes and buildings in large numbers each autumn. When disturbed or crushed the stink bug lives up to its name by emitting a disgusting odor that some describe as a mixture of dirty socks and Cilantro. Because these pests come in such large numbers, pesticides are only a temporary solution. The dead are quickly replaced by a new cohort of the living. Homeowners in heavily affected areas have come up with a variety of creative solutions for removing invading stink bugs from inside their homes. One method employed by the desperate is keeping an old vacuum cleaner, dedicated to sucking them up for disposal. Of course vacuums used for this purpose are kept in locations where the odor won't be an issue.

BMSB feeds by sucking juices from host plants. When it feeds on fruit, the enzyme it injects to keep the fluids flowing causes characteristic damage to the fruit that looks somewhat like a cat's face. This disfigurement leaves the fruit unmarketable as fresh produce. Just as rapidly as it became a structural nuisance pest Halymorpha halys became a serious pest in commercial orchards and home gardens throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Growers soon saw crop losses of between 25 and 100 percent. Host plants include a wide variety of fruit and vegetable crops, as well as a selection of ornamentals, wild plants and weeds.

Because of it is such a strong flier, new adults quickly re-infest areas and crops treated with pesticides. Controlling the pest in crops is difficult and expensive, usually entailing multiple applications of insecticides. Not treating almost guarantees large losses. There is hope on the horizon however. The USDA is has nearly completed studies involving a tiny parasitic wasp from the stink bug's native habitat that lays it's eggs in the eggs of the stink but. When the wasp larvae hatch they devour the stink bug eggs from within. The hope is that the wasp can be used as an effective biological means of control. In the meantime there are signs that predatory insects and birds in heavily infested states have finally decided that the bugs are food and have begun eating them. Time will tell us whether the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug will live up to its nasty reputation and whether central valley crops and residents will be spared any severe consequences. "Stay tuned."