Stink bugs, known for their shield-shaped bodies and stinky smell, are causing trouble in lots of places. Even though they don’t hurt people directly, they’re a big hassle, especially for farmers and gardeners. Let’s learn more facts about these bugs, why they sneak into your home, and what you can do about them.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Family: Pentatomidae
They have a diamond shape
Stink bugs belong to a group of insects known as Hemiptera. In Britain, people sometimes call this insect the shield bug. They stand out because they have five segments on their antennae, while other insects in the same group usually have four or fewer. These bugs have a big, shield-shaped body that and can grow up to almost 2 centimeters long.
There are around 4700 different types of stink bugs, and each one has different colors and patterns. Take the brown marmorated stink bug, for example. This hard diamond-shaped bug is large and has that classic shield shape, and adults come in various shades of brown on both their upper and lower bodies. Then there’s the hedge-nettle stink bug which is shiny black. The red-shouldered stink bug, on the other hand, is typically pale green to light green. Some stink bugs even have spots on their bodies, adding to their variety.
Adult stink bugs have six legs and wings that grow fully as they mature. Their legs stick out from their sides, making them look even bigger.
They are stink
These species are called stink bugs because they stink! When they feel scared or get crushed, they emit a smell that’s like rotten veggies mixed with strong spices, like cilantro or coriander. They do this by releasing special chemicals from glands on their belly through tiny holes called evapatoriums. This helps the smell spread quickly in the air. The stink can stick around for hours. This stinky defense keeps their predators like birds and reptiles away, helping stink bugs stay safe.
That’s why you shouldn’t kill a stink bug because it will let out a bad smell. This smell can stick around and bring more stink bugs to your house, possibly causing an infestation in houses. So, instead of squashing them, it’s better to use gentler methods like vacuuming to get rid of them.
Besides this stinky scent, stink bugs also emit different types of smells for different purposes, like attracting mates or marking their territory.
They’re often mistaken for other bugs
These species are often confused with other species due to their similar appearance. Here are some key points to differentiate among them:
Stink bug vs bed bugs vs kissing bug vs squashed bug vs boxelder bug vs assassin bugs
Feature Stink bug Bed bug Assassin bug Kissing bug Boxelder bug Squash bug Appearance Shield-shaped, brown, black, or greenish Flat, oval-shaped, reddish-brown Long, narrow body, usually brown Oval-shaped, dark brown or black Oval-shaped, black with red markings Oval-shaped, brownish with orange stripes Size 0.5 to 0.75 inches 0.1 to 0.2 inches Varies, but typically larger than stink bugs 0.75 to 1.25 inches 0.5 inches 0.5 to 0.75 inches Habitat Outdoors; often found in gardens Indoors; commonly found in beds, sofas Can be found in diverse habitats Near homes, in cracks Boxelder trees and surrounding areas Gardens, farms, and orchards Diet Plants and insects Blood of humans Other insects Blood of mammals Seeds of boxelder trees and other maple species Plants Bite No Yes Yes Yes No No Emit odor Yes No No No No No Health concerns Harmless to humans Cause allergic reactions, skin issues Can transmit diseases, but rarely bite humans Can transmit Chagas disease Harmless to humans Harmless to humans
Habitat
Stink bugs are not native species of the US, but now they are all over this country. These species originally come from Eastern Asia, like China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. They hitchhiked their way into the United States in the 1990s hidden in fruit crates. Now, they’ve spread to 44 states and some parts of Canada, causing a lot of trouble, especially in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. Out of the 4700 types of stink bugs worldwide, about 200 species live in North America. These bugs reproduce fast, which helps them settle in new places easily.
The insects live in places like farms, orchards, and gardens. Sometimes, you’ll find them in parks or yards around houses. In winter, adults like to hide under rocks, boards, or in the weeds outside. If they sneak into a house, they might spend the winter in attics, walls, and crawl spaces. Although these bugs are stinky, they still have special meanings. You can uncover the hidden meaning behind stink bug sightings here.
Diet
These bugs have a wide-ranging diet, mainly eating plants, fruits, and veggies. They’ll feast on all sorts of stuff like crops, flowers, seeds, and even fruits like apricots, figs, tomatoes, berries, corns, cabbage, beans, eggplants, okra, pecans, rice, pears, pepper, and grapes. Unfortunately, when they suck the juices out of these goodies, they leave them damaged and unsellable. Some stink bug species are predatory. They feed on other bugs in your garden, including their own kind! This can help keep pesky bugs away from your crops.
These insects don’t have mouths. To eat food, they use their special mouthparts to poke into their food and suck out the juices and prey. These species can survive for long periods of time without food, especially during a state of diapause when they are not reproducing. Adult stink bugs, such as the brown marmorated stink bug, can live for 6 – 8 months, depending on the quality of their food sources.
Stink bugs are eaten by many predators like ladybugs, ants, earwigs, assassin bugs, jumping spiders, and mantids. They are also attacked by parasites, such as parasitoid wasps (Trichopoda pennipes or samurai wasp Trissolcus japonicus)
They can fly and talk to each other
Stink bugs are capable of flying using their two pairs of wings. The top pair, called hemelytra, is thickened at the base and has a tough texture, while the bottom pair is thin and used for flying. They can fly up to three miles a day, mainly relying on wind to travel long distances. However, their flight is slow and clumsy compared to insects like bees. Stink bugs mostly use their wings for short trips between plants or to escape from predators. They make a loud buzzing noise while flying. If stink bugs get wet, water sticks to their wings, making flying harder. They may wait for their wings to dry or fly less smoothly in wet conditions.
Stink bugs have unique ways of communicating with each other. They use vibrations produced by moving their abdomens, which travel through surfaces like leaves or branches. These vibrations serve different purposes, like finding mates, finding places to hibernate, or warning others about danger. With the special subgenual organ, found in their legs, these species can pick up on specific frequencies to them sense vibrations.
Aside from vibrations, stink bugs also use chemicals called pheromones to talk to each other. These chemicals can travel long distances and help stink bugs find mates or gather together before hibernation. To sense these pheromones, the bugs use their antennae.
Stink bugs cannot swim. They lack the ability to swim and will sink in water.
They hibernate in your house
Like the Asian lady beetles, stink bugs hibernate during the winter, seeking warm and protected spaces to overwinter. These spaces can include your homes. They are attracted to light and can enter homes through windows, chimneys, doors, and other cracks and crevices. The issue? It’s not just a few stink bugs; it’s often a whole bunch. So why there are so many stinky bugs in houses?
Once the stink bugs get indoors, they settle in attics or basements and emit a stinky chemical signal, calling their pals to join them. This can lead to hundreds of stink bugs gathering in your home for the winter. They enter a diapause period, becoming inactive and not doing anything, even eating. When things warm up, they become active and go away, back to nature.
The stink bug infestation is not a good feeling. But the good news is they are not poisonous or dangerous to humans or pets in a serious way. They cannot bite or sting either since they don’t have mouth parts to bite. However, chemical burns can occur when their toxic fluids come into contact with your skin or eyes. If your cats or dogs eat them, it could upset their stomachs, leading to symptoms like vomiting and drooling. Eating a bunch of these bugs could cause a problem called a bezoar in a pet’s stomach, which might need surgery to fix. So it’s best to keep an eye on your furry friends and make sure they don’t snack on these bugs.
So, the best way to get rid of stink bugs is to prevent them from getting inside your home. Here are some tips to prevent stink bugs from invading your home!
Life cycle
Stink bugs go through three main life stages in their life cycle: egg, nymph, and adult. Their mating season starts in May. During mating, both males and females use their wings or legs to attract other stink bugs and release special scents called pheromones.
After mating, the female lays a cluster of 20 – 30 small, barrel-shaped eggs either under leaves or near their food. A single female can lay up to 400 eggs in her lifetime. Within 3 – 7 days, these eggs hatch.
The nymphs don’t have wings and go through five molts. Each time they molt, they get a new look with more colors and bigger sizes. During these stages, the juveniles are super active and eat a lot, mostly plant sap or whatever food they can find. The nymph stage lasts a few weeks or even months, depending on where they live and how much food there is.
When they’re all grown up, they molt one last time into adult stink bugs with wings. Their life expectancy is usually a few weeks to a few months, depending on their species and the environment. In places with cold winters, stink bugs might take a break during the cold months, which can make them live longer overall. But in warmer areas where it never gets too cold, stink bugs have shorter lifespans. They keep reproducing all year and can have up to three generations annually.
They are bad for plants
Stink bugs are pests. They feed on plants, causing big problems for farmers and gardeners. Every year, stink bugs are responsible for millions of dollars in crop damage. They’re not picky eaters; they’ll munch on all sorts of plants. Right now, they target over 175 different kinds of important crops. These include fruits like apples, pears, and berries, veggies like corn and tomatoes, and staple crops like soybeans and sunflowers.
These triangle-shaped bugs are invasive species with no natural enemies that can keep them under control. But not all stink bugs are harmful. Some types are actually beneficial for farming. The spined soldier bug and the two-spotted stink bug, for example, are good species. Instead of munching on crops like most stink bugs, they eat pests that harm crops, like caterpillars, other stink bugs, Colorado potato weevils, and other pests.
References:
