Stinkbugs

The Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs are still here! After a super cold winter, many snowfalls and other weather events, the BMSBs have survived!

 I know because they are in my ceiling light fixtures and various other venues in and around my home and office. That telling cilantro odor clings to the air. Luckily, they're slow moving so I can pick them up and dispose of them in any number of ways. But how did they make it through this winter?

'Stinky' hanging around my computer at work

According to Dr. Stanton Gill, an University of Maryland entomologist, stink bugs have a knack for finding nice, warm spots in which to hide. Deep in loose tree bark, in the attic or hiding in a warm pile of leaves, they have managed to stay alive. As it has gotten colder in some of those spaces, they have moved into mine. Yuk!
Mike Raupp, also an entomologist with the University of Maryland, offers some advice in the following video.

The trap that Mike shows is a Rescue Stink Bug Trap. I used one last year in my vegetable garden to keep tomatoes stink bug free. The amount of the critters that crawled up the green fins to the trap was astonishing. The pheromones attract the little critters into the trap. Good for me that it is reusable; once I've emptied the trap, it is ready to go for more.

Rescue Stink Bug Trap

Once just a problem in the Mid-Atlantic region, stinkbugs have slowly spread out to much of the United States. There are insecticides available that will kill the little devils.With some vigilance in closing gaps in the home, pesticides can be used very sparingly.

Good luck putting up with these nuisance pests. Unfortunately, they may be here to stay.