How To Manage Stink Bugs
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Stink bugs are definitely in the news these days, as apparently they have invaded the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. They are nasty bugs...so nasty even the birds won't eat them! They really don't have any natural predator, except humans, and if you've ever killed one, you paid the price. Yuck! Gag! Ugh!
In general, stink bugs suck juices out of any vegetable matter, as well as caterpillars and other worms. Killing the worms that eat your garden plants is one way they're beneficial, if only they weren't also eating the plants.
Some varieties of stink bugs are attracted to evergreen needles. The best defense is to clear all the fallen pine (and other evergreen) needles off the ground from under your pine trees, within a goodly radius of the house.
Clearing away any plant matter from around the entrances to your house can help keep them out. Caulking any cracks & crevices they might get into is helpful, but my experience has been that you can't caulk it all.... they still find ways to get in.
When they do come and you catch them, it's kind of you to put them outside, but they only come back with their friends. Since they lay eggs, killing the adults is the only way to hopefully break the life cycle. Nothing else seems to eliminate them.
To reduce the population then, you need to kill as many adults as possible, hopefully before they lay eggs. With some experimentation, you can set up stations outside that have food they like to eat, and when you see a bunch of them congregated...start killing. Somewhat along the principle of the fly traps (which do really help to control fly populations in barns).
I have become extremely fond of using a bug vaccuum as a method of coping with them once they get in the house. Be sure to get one that kills by zapping, as it seems to kill them before they can release their stink.
This Lentek Bug Vacuum here is is what I use.
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I went to a home show in my area this last weekend and they told me the peak dates for this infestation is the first 2 weeks of April. We haven't even gotten there yet! I have many in my house now and just keep putting them outside. I read somewhere that they love fruit. So I have been keeping my counters clean and the fruit in the fridge.
So, the Lentek vacuum really works on these guys? We are tired of wheeling our shop vac all over the house. One amazom review said that the Lentek was not effective with stink bugs. Looking for an answer...
It worked for me! :)
I find the Lentek vacumm works wonders on my constipation!
Lady Guinevere 2 years ago
hmmm I have these in my house all over the place. Thanks you for doing a hub on it. Seems they are in other parts of the country and not just what the news said about them being only in the Mid-Atlantic states. We found that we cannot get and put them in a jar becasue everytime we opened the jar----horrific smell. My husband said it was fun at first! LOL. So I guess we keep catching them and putting them outside or using the vacuum to suck them up. Our cats don't even want to play with them.