Pest Guide for Stink Bugs
Stink bugs originated in East Asia and slowly made their way to the United States over the past several years. Now, they’ve become one of the most popular spring and fall pests in the country and can easily be found in both homes and offices. The pest got its name from the odor it emits as a defense mechanism, which means they can sometimes be detected by their smell.
Looks
Adult stink bugs are around 3/4″ long and are about as wide as they are long. With five sides, they’re shaped like a “shield” and have brown markings on both their backs and their undersides. Because they’re a relatively flat pest, they can squeeze through small openings like cracks around your windows, doors, siding, pipes, or even behind chimneys in order to get into your home but once they’re in, it’s rare they’ll reproduce indoors. Stink bugs do have wings, but they use them mainly to get from one place to another and you’ll often find them crawling around on their six legs instead.
Common Food Sources
Though they may not look it, stink bugs can actually be detrimental to farm crops. These pests feed on fruits like apples, pears, peaches, persimmons, figs, citrus, and more as well as beans, corn, peppers, soybeans, and lima beans. Inside your home, you’ll often find stink bugs near windows and/or on ornamental plants. Because these bugs are large in size, it’s pretty easy to know whether you have an infestation or not. If you do and you’re having trouble getting rid of it, be sure to call our pest control experts.
Avoid a Stink Bug Infestation
To avoid having these bugs inside your home, seal up any cracks around your windows, doors, walls, crawl spaces, and other areas of your home. If you do see a stink bug, use a vacuum cleaner to get rid of it instead of smashing or stepping on it. (This helps keeps the defensive odor to a minimum.) Also keep your grass cut low and if you have a garden close to your home, make sure you lightly spray your plants to prevent the bugs from feeding on them and to prevent them from seeking your home as a shelter.