Let me just start this off by saying unequivocally, I HATE STINKBUGS! I am so tired of them coming into my house. We are killing roughly 10-15 per day. They have been a problem for a while now. Even as I typed these few sentences, I have gotten up to get 2 of them. While I know they are not terribly harmful to people they, still give me the creeps. Just imagining the dirt and germs they carry is enough to make me want them gone---not to mention the smell! While I have smelled fouler things in my life, it is pretty unpleasant. I have cleaned out items in my carport only to find 15-20 stinkbugs residing in the cracks---things like lawn chairs and car seats---really not fun! So, I decided to do a little research on them, during the course of which I became increasingly paranoid that they were crawling all over me!
So here are some facts about these stinky critters:
*The species we have here in the Roanoke Valley is the brown marmorated stinkbug. Introduced into the U.S from Asia, first found near Allentown, PA. Currently making their way across the states. They have conveniently left behind their natural predators. There are over 5,000 species of stinkbugs.
*They are attracted to plants, light and warmth. This is why they come into your home. They will come in through any crack in your home, around window and door frames, tiles shingles etc.
*They emit an odor as self-defense. The odor can linger on surfaces for up to 6 months. It also serves as an attractant to other stinkbugs, telling them to come and take up residence. It also can lead them back to places they have used for hibernation in the past.
*The good news:they cannot reproduce indoors.
So what do I do about them? A friend of mine came up with a brilliant idea: S.P.L.A.T. Or Stinkbug Population Limitation & Annihilation Team. So if you hate them as much as me, join me in this worthy cause. So my fellow S.P.L.A.Ters, how do we proceed in our combat? Here are some tips I found:
This should already be obvious-DO NOT squish them, they will stink. You could vacuum them up, but seriously who is going to keep their vacuum with them at the ready all day. And then have to get them out of the canister after? No thank you. Flushing seems to work, but we have gone through an unprecedented amount of tissue and toilet paper by doing that with every single bug. I have heard that a spray bottle filled with soapy water will kill them. But then you still have to pick them up with a tissue and throw away or flush them. I read one home remedy that called for crushing a pack of cigarettes, steeping the tobacco, draining several times through cheesecloth, then adding a few teaspoons of dish soap, and using that to spray them. Unless you have hundreds of them , I can't imagine going to all that trouble. One of the funner and more satisfying solutions I read was to use a can of compressed air. Turn it upside down and spray and freeze them instantly. Apparently they freeze so fast that do not have time to emit their stench. One of the more dangerous methods (which I DO NOT recommend) was using a small torch (that just seems like a bad idea). I must admit there would be a certain level of satisfaction in it.
As far as prevention goes the only thing you can do is seal up your house like Fort Knox. Caulk and seal all cracks and around windows and doors. And if you are so inclined you can spray around those types of areas with a pesticide. In my research it has become clear that if you have a large infestation, do not use a bomb or pesticide inside. If you do, more harmful insects will be attracted to the carcasses and do much of worse damage.
Unfortunately, it looks as if these bugs are here to stay. So S.P.L.A.T.-ers unite! Kill the stinkbugs!
