Stink Bug Season Is Back: How To Trap, Kill Them

COLLEGE PARK, MD — It doesn't feel like fall just yet, but this is the time to take steps to keep stink bugs out of your house. Stink bugs – given the apt nickname because of the musty scent they emit when frightened or squashed by people – are very active in the fall as they try to crawl their way into your house.

This is the time to do some easy chores around the house to keep them outside, say experts. While stink bugs don't bite or eat anything inside your house, they are a nuisance. If they make it inside, the pests will head toward the attic and nest in old newspapers or clothes, then emerge in the spring. (For more events and local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Annapolis Patch, and click here to find your local Maryland Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

To prevent another battle with the bugs in the spring, you should remove your window air-conditioner as soon as the heat is over, seal cracks around windows and doors (also a good step to prevent winter drafts), and repair broken screens and windows. Use a high-quality silicone or silicone-latex caulk this fall to seal all cracks around windows, doors, siding, utility pipes, behind chimneys and underneath the wood fascia and other openings, says USA Today.

But if you think you need some kind of expensive, complicated way to get rid of them, think again.
A group of researchers from Virginia Tech University conducted a study that found that instead of a fancy contraption, all you need is a pan of water and a light to draw stink bugs to their doom.

The necessary supplies:

• A large pan (an aluminum foil one if you want to toss it, because honestly, who wants to reuse a pan that’s had bugs floating in it?)
• Water and dish soap
• A light to attract the bugs

The Virginia Tech team has proven that homemade, inexpensive stink bug traps crafted from simple household items outshine pricier models designed to kill the invasive, annoying bugs.

Researchers from the university's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences found the best way to get rid of the little buggers: Just fill a foil roasting pan with water and dish soap, and put a light over the pan to attract the bugs in a dark room.

The trap eliminated 14 times more stink bugs than store-bought traps that cost up to $50, the study found. The homemade model is comparatively cheap — roasting pan, dish soap, light — and homeowners might already own the components.

Stink bugs, which have a brown, shield-like body, were first discovered in Allentown, PA in 2001, according to the 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 experts.

Here are other ways to get rid of stink bugs:

• Use a vacuum cleaner to suck up the bugs.
• 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.
• Seal up cracks around windows and doors with caulk or weather stripping. - UMD Home and Garden Information Center.
• Take out window-unit air conditioners; stink bugs can easily get through these. - UMD HGIC.
• 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.
• Squish stink bugs outdoors--the odor warns other stink bugs to flee. - Bayer Advanced insect control.
• Hang a stink bug trap outside your house to catch them. - UMD Bug Guy, Mike Raupp, YouTube.
• 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
• Check your attic for holes or gaps and close them up. Stinkbugs often enter through attics - Mike Raupp, UMD Bug Guy.

— Includes reporting by Patch Editor Kara Seymour

»PHOTO: Stink bugs are active in the fall. Pixabay photo