Stinkbugs make themselves at home

Stinkbugs turned up on the cover of the July 2009 edition of Agricultural Research, a magazine published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

These are the same stinkbugs you probably had living in your home last winter. They are brown marmorated stinkbugs, also called East Asian stinkbugs. They are not the native green stinkbugs often found on tomato plants.

Their first appearance in America was in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 2001. Then they appeared in Maryland in 2003, West Virginia in 2004 and Lynchburg in 2005.

The pest’s range is expanding and its numbers are rising. Locally, this stinkbug is abundant in Amherst County, Bedford County and Lynchburg. Homes infested last year are guaranteed to be infested again this year.

The stinkbugs are a problem because hundreds and even thousands of them can crowd into a single home to spend the winter. They fly around making a buzzing noise and dripping dark fluid on walls and floors. They also smell bad.

There is hope for the future, according to the magazine. Page 14 has an article describing the efforts of a stinkbug expert, entomologist Jeffrey Aldrich, as he develops a trap for these pests. He is working in a U.S.D.A. lab in Beltsville, Md., to discover a pheromone which will lure the stinkbugs into traps where they can be killed.

Someday you may be able to buy a stinkbug trap at the store just like you can buy a Japanese beetle trap today.
Two of Aldrich’s statements are worth repeating here. On the subject of spraying the bugs, he said, “they’re mobile and not particularly susceptible to insecticides.”

He also admitted that “it’s early in this insect’s invasion and things are still unfolding, but it is spreading and it’s going to continue to spread.”
September is when stinkbugs arrive at homes in our area. They congregate in huge swarms and look for ways to get indoors.

Here are a few things you can do now to minimize the number of stinkbugs inside your house.
—Seal cracks and crevices around windows and doors with silicone caulk.
—Keep windows and doors shut as much as possible.
—Remove window-mounted air conditioners.
—Repair torn and poorly fitting window screens.
—Place screens over the attic vents, foundation vents, chimneys and exhaust fans.
—Remove clutter to eliminate hiding places.
—Get a powerful vacuum cleaner and dedicate it to the smelly work of stinkbug control.
—Look into buying an electric fly swatter which kills stinkbugs without messy splatter.
—Insecticide sprayed outdoors around windows and doors may reduce the number of stinkbugs coming inside. Spray just before the pests show up, and concentrate on the south and west sides where they gather in greatest numbers.

The article on stinkbugs is available online at http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jul09/