Stink Bugs Are Moving Into Long Island Homes Rent-Free; Here's What To Do

LONG ISLAND, NY — Stink bugs are looking for a place to spend the winter in New York, and your home may be just the cozy, rent-free retreat they have in mind.

There's no need to get worked up about their arrival, says Josh Berter, a Terminix branch manager in Indianapolis.

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"They're harmless," Berter told Patch. "But they're a nuisance. That's the biggest thing. There's no need to panic. They'll mind their own business. You could just hang out with them until spring."

Just don't squish them.

"They do earn their name very well. They do emit quite the odor," Berter said.

The smell when a stink bug is flattened has been compared to fresh cilantro, decaying produce, smelly gym socks, or an exceptionally funky combination of all three.

The odds are good that stink bugs will stay safely and quietly out of the way, like ideal roommates, except that they don't help pay the bills. They'll just sleep the winter away undetected in a hibernation-like state called diapause.

They don't bite, despite their rather menacing-sounding "piercing, sucking mouth parts" — tiny shields about a half-inch long and wide, which they curiously tuck between their legs when they're not piercing and sucking the juice from plants. They can't sting you, and they won't reproduce. They don't carry diseases. They're disinterested in your food and won't make a smorgasbord of wood floors, furniture or clothing.

Long Island's First Defense

Still, they're bugs.

Stopping stink bugs from getting in should be Long Islanders' first line of defense.

"They'll find about any gap or crack around your windows and door seals and soffit and siding to sneak in. It doesn't take much of a gap for them to get in," Berter said.

On warm fall days, stink bugs gravitate toward the warmer side of the home, so start sealing cracks there, he advised. To make your home a fortress, arm yourself with weather-stripping, caulking, and tape. Seal up gaps and crevices around foundations and any area where doors, windows, chimneys, and utility pipes are cut into the exterior.

Know Your Stink Bug

There are several kinds of stink bugs. An occasional native brown stink bug, which is abundant across North America and especially in the Southeast, isn't a huge concern.

"We can coexist with them in the garden," Berter said.

The invasive brown marmorated stink bug is a serious agricultural pest. Scientists have waged an all-out war against them with good reason. What they can do with those piercing, sucking mouthparts to an apple, peach, or pear orchard isn't pretty and can wipe out a grower's entire crop.

They've been reported in almost every state, including New York, according to the USDA-funded Stop the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug task force. Only Hawaii, South Dakota, and Wyoming seem to have avoided them.

In New York, these stinkers have been reported to cause severe agricultural and nuisance problems.

Of course, spotting these differences between types of stink bugs requires getting close enough to a stink bug to appreciate its finer points, which may be more than most people care to do.

The easiest giveaway is the antennae. The invasive brown marmorated stink bug has two distinct whitish bands on its dark antennae, while the native brown stink bug's antennae gradually darken toward the tips. The marmorated variety also has more triangular pale markings along the edges of its abdomen, compared with the squarer markings on the native bug.

'It's A Defense Mechanism'

Brown marmorated stink bugs are more prone to swarming than native brown stink bugs. The advice on what to do about them is the same.
And again, don't worry.

Berter said he's treated homes with infestations with dozens of stink bugs, but that's uncommon. In most cases, there's no need to hire an exterminating company.

"Usually, it's two or three here and there creeping across the ceiling," he explained. "Either suck them up with a vacuum or take them outside in a jar. But once they're in for the winter and you start seeing them, it may be too late."

And again, don't squish them.

It's like walking through a department store during the holidays and getting a spritz of eau de dirty socks.

"It's a defense mechanism," Berter said.