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Honored Contributor
Posts: 8,738
Registered: ‎06-06-2019

And in full force and bigger than ever.  I've been killing them on my screen doors all day long, with a fly swatter.  I know they are trying to get inside for the winter.  Ugh.  I've tried every bug spray I know.  I think they are from outer space and indestructible. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,702
Registered: ‎08-22-2013

Yes, they certainly are and my left hand is all stained a rusty color from catching them and putting them in a plastic bag. I wasn't even squeezing them, I guess they just release that stain automatically.

Contributor
Posts: 39
Registered: ‎09-08-2019

Same thing going on here in NE Ohio.   It's like they want  in as they are clinging to my screen window.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,382
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Hopefully, like many insects, they dislike dry, arid conditions and will stay out of the Desert Southwest.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment
Valued Contributor
Posts: 868
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@laundrycat wrote:

Same thing going on here in NE Ohio.   It's like they want  in as they are clinging to my screen window.


I, too, live in NE Ohio and they are back and bigger than ever.  YUK!!!! docsgirl

Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,745
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Stink Bugs are Back

[ Edited ]

We had an invasion of them a couple years ago.  They are horrible.  I found that they like white.  Anything white attracted them and they are particularly bad this time of year.  I have white shutters and white trim in my house so they loved me.  I also found they are attracted to light (probably the warmth) but they hate garlic, so I put garlic inside all my window sills to keep them from entering at the windows but occasionally there were some at the tops of the windows and around the doors, so I would see them (never swat them!!!). 

 

If you swat them, they smell up the joint and their friends smell them and come to their rescue.  I would lead them onto white napkins near the areas where I kept lights on.  Once I had them all on the napkins (and they felt safe), I would hold one hand on the toilet flush lever and the napkin the other, dump and flush, and get about 10 at a time that way. Also, as I understand if they feel your touch in catching or swatting them, they emit that wonderful aroma, so try to lead them onto the napkin and do not touch them or grasp them.  Just let them guide you through this process to the toilet.  

 

If you have a master gardener club or a county agent from the agriculture department in your area, they might have better methods but this is what this master gardener came up with based on available methods versus poisons, etc.

 

I prefer the garlic and catch/flush method over swatting because they stink worse when you swat and it encourages more to come your way.  We had thousands (at my house alone).  We do live on the banks of a creek and there is kudzu growing all along the edges of the embankment behind our property, and my understanding is that kudzu is one of their favorite habitats.  I spent half of each day catching and flushing them for weeks on end  Please encourage them onto something/flushable and white and send them on their merry, stinking way. 

 

 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,206
Registered: ‎08-08-2011

I just saw this thread and have to agree - yesterday I said to my husband that the stink bugs were back since I saw a few clinging to the outside of our screen doors.  A little while later he said, “there’s one of your friends.” And I looked and one was crawling on the carpet.  Yikes!  Now I’m hoping the weather turns cool soon so they go away!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,745
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Stink Bugs are Back

[ Edited ]

I understand stinkbugs are worst in states that grow kudzu.  Ohio, particularly the Columbus area, has quite a bit of kudzu, but Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi and borroughs of New York. It is particularly prominent in Nova Scotia.

 

The origins of its introduction to this country are variable and several, but I learned from a reliable source (a teaching university) that It was first introduced to the USA from Asia to prevent erosion following the Civil War, where crops had once grown but were destroyed and the land was eroding and later more was established following the introduction of the boll weevil to the south. 

 

Not sure if the government introduced the boll weevil to prevent cotton crops growing in the south or it was a natural occurrence, but as our government is wont to do things like introduce insects to prevent invasive crops (such as wild roses and honeysuckles), I no longer doubt anything our government does or has done and once out of control, they seek other short-term measures to control that problem which leads to another problem.  I guess living means changing and altering courses but our government seems to be pretty good at this. 

 

Some (maybe pseudo) historians say it was given to the USA for porch coverings, but that seems implausible to me, as it can consume a whole community of houses in one summer if allowed to grow on a porch or whatever near a home. So I doubt the veracity of that.

 

I was told that, following the civil war, especially where rice, tobacco crops and cotton and been grown but destroyed by federal troops, where land was susceptible to erosion, kudzu was planted to prevent erosion (as it is a huge vining plant) which loves poor soil and establishes itself and grows at the rate of 1 ft per day, so in the south, where the weather is above freezing for about 8 months per year, you see how it could grow to destroy whole neighborhoods (unless it is controlled) in a few months.  So, the government has spent quite a bit of money destroying it and it is getting worse because herbicides are no longer allowed to control its growth.  

 

This is all, JMHO, based on what I have read, heard and experienced, but the stink bugs are proof that they live in kudzu-infested area.

Super Contributor
Posts: 362
Registered: ‎06-07-2019

Gosh.. that sounds like a terrible infestation.  I haven't seen many here, a few.  I live in the Pacific NW, we get gigantic slugs but not to many stink bugs.  Is it a southern thing?

Honored Contributor
Posts: 19,658
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Stink Bugs are Back

[ Edited ]

@LillyBee2 

 

They're not that common in my southern neck of the woods, SE coastal GA, I rarely see one.

 

I also have a creek behind my house, but no kudzu, lots of trees, bushes though.

 

I'm on an island off the coast of GA, so maybe they don't like salt air or water?

 

We have a bigger problem with love bugs coming up from FL, but at least they don't stink  and aren't creepy looking, although they're a bear to get off you car's paint job.

You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.