# Stink Bugs



## JohnT (Oct 27, 2010)

Ok, so for those of in the north east, we are getting overrun by these nasty bugs (stink bugs). They are just comming out of the wood work! I have no idea just how they keep getting into the house, but they sure keep showing up. 

Stink bugs are these ugly beatle like insects that emit a nastly smell when threatened. The best way to get rid of them is by sucking them up in a vacume. 

I did not know why they are so bad at my house, but not as bad as some of my neighbors, but now know why. I read in this MSN article that stink bugs are attracted to fermenting fruit. This year it is a real concern of most New Jersey and New York wineries. If so much as one of these buggers gets through your fermentation trap, a large batch of wine can be utterly ruined.

Anybody know of a ant other good ways to get rid of these evil creatures?


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## djrockinsteve (Oct 27, 2010)

There was an article on the news weeks ago about them. They don't like one kind of candle. Burning these will keep them away. I can't recall if it was bayberry or not. If you kill one more will come.

A friend of my step daugh. attic has thousands of them. I agree, just like the fruit flies, fire up the vacuume.

I'll try to find out ? candle scent.


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## djrockinsteve (Oct 27, 2010)

http://www.bugspray.com/article/stinkbug.html

There's a link for some info. Apparently they do bite and it hurts like a MF. Dawn dishwashing liquid will kill them but they will release their nasty scent as they die. One person mentioned citronella candles but I know that wasn't it.


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## Runningwolf (Oct 27, 2010)

In the years past we got those dreaded lady bugs but not so much this year. The stink bugs dd not hit either but I hear they are about 100-200 miles south of hear. With the cold snaps and winter around the corner I think we are safe this year.


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## djrockinsteve (Oct 27, 2010)

Stink bugs like warmth and are attracted by lights. Turn up the AC and drive 'em out. Now is there a recipe for stink bug wine. You know somebody gotta ask.


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## ffemt128 (Oct 27, 2010)

Can't stand the annoying little things. Either catch them and give them a run down to ALCOSAN or catch them in a paper towel and sacrifice them on the charcoal grill. There is absolutely no purpose to those nasty little animals.


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## JohnT (Oct 27, 2010)

The reason I brought this up: 

Watching TV in bed last night. One of those little suckers flew into the TV, bounced off and crashed to the floor. It then proceeded to "Skunk" the room. I ended up smelling it all night.


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## djrockinsteve (Oct 27, 2010)

JohnT said:


> It then proceeded to "Skunk" the room. I ended up smelling it all night.



Seriously Honey, it wasn't me. It was one of those stink bugs!


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## JasonH (Oct 29, 2010)

These things are all over the house. I've got 10 gallons of fermenting apple cider and 200 lbs of fermenting cabbage in the basement and I've already caught a few getting dangerously close to it all. I can't even get the dogs to eat these things they just keep spitting them back out and then I have to smell their crap!


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## Julie (Oct 29, 2010)

JasonH said:


> These things are all over the house. I've got 10 gallons of fermenting apple cider and 200 lbs of fermenting cabbage in the basement and I've already caught a few getting dangerously close to it all. I can't even get the dogs to eat these things they just keep spitting them back out and then I have to smell their crap!



Jason, are you making sauerkraut?


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## JasonH (Oct 29, 2010)

Julie said:


> Jason, are you making sauerkraut?



Yup. We make it every year as sort of a family tradition.


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## Julie (Oct 30, 2010)

JasonH said:


> Yup. We make it every year as sort of a family tradition.



Thought so, we use to do that as well.


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## djrockinsteve (Mar 18, 2011)

The stink bugs are back. Over the winter we would find an occasional stinker and flush 'em away. Today I looked up at my dining room window and saw one climbing up the glass.

I know it was because my wife brought a few plants in from outside for the winter.


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## grapeman (Mar 18, 2011)

There is a new nastier harder to kill stinkbug on the scene. It is called the Brown Marmorated Stinkbug.

Here is a link describing more.
http://hudsonvf.cce.cornell.edu/scouting%20reports/BMSB%20Project/leskey%20bmstinkbug%202-15-2011/leskey%20bmstinkbug%202-15-2011.html


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## xanxer82 (Mar 18, 2011)

The brown bugs is already here in the mid Atlantic. Best way to get rid of the is to flush them in the toilet. Make sure all screens are free of holes and your house is sealed up. Even then they may find a way in.
According to the extension center, they are researching a wasp that is native to Asia and is a natural enemy of the stinkbug.


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## Flem (Mar 19, 2011)

That's the kind we have here. I have killed literally thousands of them over the last couple of years. Each year they get worse. I still, occasionally find one in the house.


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## Daisy317 (Mar 24, 2011)

djrockinsteve said:


> There was an article on the news weeks ago about them. They don't like one kind of candle. Burning these will keep them away. I can't recall if it was bayberry or not. *If you kill one more will come*.
> 
> A friend of my step daugh. attic has thousands of them. I agree, just like the fruit flies, fire up the vacuume.
> 
> I'll try to find out ? candle scent.



Is that because of the scent they leave off? I hope not... I just found a few in the room my furnace and hot water tank are in...


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## Flem (Mar 24, 2011)

Daisy317 said:


> Is that because of the scent they leave off? I hope not... I just found a few in the room my furnace and hot water tank are in...



It is because of the scent they leave. The ones you're finding now are left over from last fall. The next big infestation will occur next fall.


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## djrockinsteve (Mar 24, 2011)

Everytime it warms up a bit I find one that is crawling up my window. Throw them out in the cold or flush them. They are persistant but I can be just as.

Don't squash them or smack them against the window. Just toss 'em to the sewer. There they can grow huge from all the fertilizer and sciFi can make a movie about them.


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## Redtrk (Mar 24, 2011)

I haven't seen a stink bug in years. Luckily I don't miss them.


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## djrockinsteve (Mar 24, 2011)

Watch your mail, I'll send you some.


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## Flem (Mar 24, 2011)

Redtrk said:


> I haven't seen a stink bug in years. Luckily I don't miss them.



Just wait Rick, they're heading your way!


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## Brian (Mar 24, 2011)

What I usually do is catch them in a paper towel and squish them and flush them. I don't have to many a few now and then but th eheat a week or so ago brought out a few.. I have never noticed a smell. Thank God!


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## xanxer82 (Mar 24, 2011)

http://www.hgic.umd.edu/content/brownstinkbug.cfm
This link to the University of MD Extension Center has pictures of them in all of their stages, nymph to adult.


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## Daisy317 (Mar 25, 2011)

Flem said:


> It is because of the scent they leave. The ones you're finding now are left over from last fall. The next big infestation will occur next fall.



Well I never noticed them last year... hope it's a fluke...


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## AlFulchino (Mar 25, 2011)

John here is an article i had just read before coming here...these things are nasty..the story is from the ithacajournal.com

Vineyards warned about threat of stink bugs
Cornell professor addresses grape growers conference
6:05 PM, Mar. 24, 2011 

The stink from stink bugs is just the start -- not only do the pests feast on local fruit, they could imperil the state's wine industry, grape growers have been warned.

At the 60th annual Finger Lakes Grape Growers' Conference held in Waterloo, about 300 grape growers, winemakers and extension educators were introduced to two new invasive insects that are expected to make their first appearance in the Finger Lakes region this summer: the spotted wing fruit fly and the brown marmorated stink bug.

A native of Asia, this particular stink bug was first spotted in Allentown, Pa., around 1996 and has hitchhiked into parts of New York, including the Hudson Valley, Long Island and New York City, but it has not posed a serious statewide agricultural threat until now. It stunned farmers in the Middle Atlantic states with its unprecedented, aggressive damage in 2010, feeding on a wide variety of crops, from soybeans to fruit trees.

"Based on work in other states, we know that both species will feed on grapes, but it is still unclear how much damage they will cause," Cornell entomology professor Greg Loeb said. "The better informed growers are -- recognizing what these insects look like, their pest potential and possible control measures -- the better they will be able to make sound pest-management decisions."

Conference participants were also updated about viral threats. Miguel Gomez, Cornell assistant professor of applied economics and management in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, spoke about the financial effects of grapevine leafroll virus disease -- estimated to be between $10,000 and $16,000 per acre -- and offered recommendations for minimizing virus management costs over the life of a vineyard.

Wayne Wilcox, Cornell professor of plant pathology and plant-microbe biology, gave some hope for treatment of powdery and downy mildew, highlighting newly available fungicides that have proven effective in his field trials.

New York grape production was 8 percent higher than average in 2010, said Dyson School professor Gerald White, and traffic on the wine trails increased, he said. But he cautioned that rising fuel and energy prices will drive up costs in 2011.


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## Flem (Mar 25, 2011)

Al, I hope they can find an effective control method for them. To me, they are just a real nuisance; to folks like you, they could be devastating. I heard that this summer they are coming out with something like the Japanese Beatle trap, which, to me, is about as effective as a fly swatter.


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## Runningwolf (Mar 25, 2011)

Mike I agree with you. In some cities Japanese beetle traps are outlawed as they actually attract them. I love it when my neighbors place then away from their house next to my yard.


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## Flem (Mar 25, 2011)

That's actually very true. I guess, under the guise of being nice, you could buy them for all of your neighbors and solve your problem without an expensive lawn treatment.


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## grapeman (Mar 25, 2011)

On Monday we had our yearly Pesticide Distributors meeting. One of the big topics was the Brown Marmorated Stinkbug. Most chemical suppliers have their own product for them with one seeming to be more effective than the others. The common theme is to hit them early and hit them hard. It is inevitable that they will invade all areas soon. If you wait until you find them it may be too late. Unlike other stinkbugs that only feed as adults, these suckers feed at all stages, causing a lot of damage to fruit of all kinds.

Miguel Gomez is meeting with our group because one of his new projects is to help upstart wine regions of our state. They are putting together a grant application to see what they can do to help these areas.

Overall the 60th Annual Conference was great. I got to meet a lot of new contacts, from equipment suppliers, chemical dealers, University personnel, and a host of just plain good people in the wine industry. Eric Amberg of Grafted Grapevine made a point of speaking with me as he is interested in getting cold hardy vines established in his nursery. He has some varieties and wanted to learn more about other ones out there. 

Anyway, back to the Stinkbug. I hope that an effective control for this pest is found soon that doesn't involve nasty chemicals. I would rather not have to use any of them, but can't afford to see whole crops destroyed either.


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## Minnesotamaker (Mar 25, 2011)

USA TODAY: STINK BUG POPULATION SPREADING ACROSS USA


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## WVMountaineerJack (Mar 26, 2011)

One of the control measures is Surround, its a clay based product that doesnt kill the stinkers but they just plain dont like it, as a plus fungal diseases dont like it either and neither do a bunch of other bugs. In our veg garden last year they devasted the tomatoes and peppers, they all looked like someone took a needle and just randomly poked holes in them. They were all over the berry crop too. As a plus the clay acts like bentonite and is supposed to help clear your must.

Crackedcork



grapeman said:


> On Monday we had our yearly Pesticide Distributors meeting. One of the big topics was the Brown Marmorated Stinkbug. Most chemical suppliers have their own product for them with one seeming to be more effective than the others. The common theme is to hit them early and hit them hard. It is inevitable that they will invade all areas soon. If you wait until you find them it may be too late. Unlike other stinkbugs that only feed as adults, these suckers feed at all stages, causing a lot of damage to fruit of all kinds.
> 
> Miguel Gomez is meeting with our group because one of his new projects is to help upstart wine regions of our state. They are putting together a grant application to see what they can do to help these areas.
> 
> ...


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## WVMountaineerJack (Mar 26, 2011)

grapeman said:


> Unlike other stinkbugs that only feed as adults, these suckers feed at all stages, causing a lot of damage to fruit of all kinds.



What do you mean only the adults feed? Those nympths have to eat to grow to. 

These things are so pervasive that even if you kill every bug in your wineyard of vineyard there are millions more waiting in your neighbors yard to haphazardly fly over and start munching again. One extension guy told us that the problem is that since they pierce their food with their mouth like a mosquito just applying spray to the surface doesnt do much to stop them.


Crackedcork


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## grapeman (Mar 26, 2011)

I'm only relaying information I got. I guess it would be more accurate to say that they feed on fruit at all stages where other kinds feed on the plants. Because of this they have more of an economic impact. Fruit is more valuable in general than foliage.


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## WVMountaineerJack (Mar 26, 2011)

OK, got it, we grow hot peppers also, this year we tossed most of the crop, the stink bugs poked holes all over them, we had to shake them out of the elderberries when we picked them and we have never seen so many hiding in the blackberries. They say this coming summer is going to be WORSE! Crackedcork



grapeman said:


> I'm only relaying information I got. I guess it would be more accurate to say that they feed on fruit at all stages where other kinds feed on the plants. Because of this they have more of an economic impact. Fruit is more valuable in general than foliage.


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