10 Ways to Battle Stink Bugs
Find out how to trap them, drown them, and generally make your home an unfriendly target for the critters.
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You've probably seen them crawling on your screens or fluttering in unexpected places around your house. You can't crush them, because they expel a musty scent when frightened, a defensive technique that has earned them their name—stink bugs.
Stink bugs, which have a brown, shield-like body, were first discovered in Allentown, PA, according to a University of Maryland entomology bulletin. They feed on fruit trees, ornamental plants, vegetables and legumes, and are common throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, especially in the fall, according to the bulletin.
Although stink bugs are not known to present any harm to humans, according to UMD, they are a nuisance.
Here are ten ways to get rid of them:
1. Use a vacuum cleaner to suck up the bugs - UMD Bulletin.
2. Cut the top of a half gallon or gallon jug, fill it with soapy water and use a piece of cardboard or a napkin to whisk the bugs into the water, which will drown them - UMD Bulletin.
3. Seal up cracks around windows and doors with caulk or weather stripping. - UMD Home and Garden Information Center.
4. Take out window-unit air conditioners; stink bugs can easily get through these. - UMD HGIC.
5. Plant or move fruit trees and vegetable gardens, especially tomato plants, away from your home to prevent stink bugs from landing on the exterior of your home. - UMD HGIC.
6. Squish stink bugs outdoors--the odor warns other stink bugs to flee. - Bayer Advanced insect control.
7. Hang a stink bug trap outside your house to catch them. - UMD Bug Guy, Mike Raupp, YouTube.
8. Hang a damp towel outside your home overnight. In the morning, stink bugs will blanket the towel, and you can use a vacuum or knock them into a jug of soapy water to kill them. - Bayer Advanced
9. Although most insecticides are ineffective against stink bugs, some do work, but the bug must be clearly on the label. Insecticides are never to be used indoors - UMD HGIC
10. Check your attic for holes or gaps and close them up. Stinkbugs often enter through attics - Mike Raupp, UMD Bug Guy, YouTube.
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Nicola
11:14 am on Monday, October 22, 2012
One thing I'm confused about is whether stink bugs actually do smell when you smash them? None of the articles I've read about <a href="http://www.pestexterminator.com/">how to get rid of stink bugs</a> ever clarifies this - I'm scared to touch them, so I just live with the buggers :(
Joe Thomas
6:19 pm on Monday, October 22, 2012
You have to be kidding.
Valerie Mayer
1:51 pm on Monday, October 22, 2012
They do smell and they release a brown liquid when scared. Do not vacuum them, especially if they are still alive, the smell will come through the vacuum for a while. Soapy water kills them very quickly. Either pick them up with a tissue and drop them in a jar of soapy water, or spray them with soapy water. There's no need to live them.
Nicola
2:58 pm on Monday, October 22, 2012
Oh wow - I DEFINITELY have vacuumed them before!!!! I'll stop doing that for sure...
Katie Fisher
3:32 pm on Monday, October 22, 2012
Oh yeah DO NOT suck them up with the vacuum. It will make your vacuum stink and then your carpets, if you use the same vacuum on the floors. BLEH!
Kat Kobitz
4:51 pm on Monday, October 22, 2012
We take the cap off a soda bottle, put the opening over the bugs so they fall in. When we are done we fill the bottle woth soapy water, replace the lid and swirl it around. All done and no smell.
Joe Thomas
9:22 am on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Pick they damn thing up and throw it out the front door!
Kathy Jentz
10:35 am on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Do NOT just throw it back outside to breed and prey on our local apple orchards, cornfields, tomato plants, etc. Flush them, drown in soap water, or squish (the scent is not not bad).
Eric Balkan
3:03 pm on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
I haven't tried it with stink bugs, but I've used a BugZooka (from amazon.com) against moths, spiders, and once on a cricket. It's a push-button pump-action plastic tube that'll suck up a bug, which can then be taken outside or whatever.
Lezlie Crosswhite
6:01 pm on Tuesday, October 23, 2012
I vacuum mine up and then cover the hose with a piece of duct tape. I learned to do the duct tape trick after a parade of dog hair covered stink bugs came marching back out of the vacuum. It really was kind of funny.
They don't smell that bad, but if you squish 'em, use something that will catch the gunk that spurts out of them when you squish.
To my nose, they smell like cilantro.
Rsatteson
12:50 pm on Wednesday, October 31, 2012
I sprayed them with Windex this year and they pretty much dropped dead.
Bailey Henneberg
2:07 pm on Wednesday, October 31, 2012
I just pick them up in a plastic container and let them go. I read the comment of them preying on crops. Not saying that's not true; but on the micro level, they lumber along, don't act aggressively, and are like slow moving turtles... I don't have it in me to splatter their green guts all over the floor.