Return of the stink bugs

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DartThrower
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Location: Philadelphia

Return of the stink bugs

Post by DartThrower »

It is becoming an end of summer ritual in Southeastern PA for the dreaded stink bug to emerge from its summer slumber.

I have a 100 year old home with plenty of cracks and crevices for them to enter. I have tried to seal everything the best I can.

How common is this problem? If anyone else has this problem, do you have a strategy for dealing with it?

Here is a link from Penn State that provides the basics:

http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheet ... -stink-bug
After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art. Chopin
neverknow
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Post by neverknow »

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Last edited by neverknow on Sun Jan 16, 2011 6:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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wmcclain
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Post by wmcclain »

In the upper Midwest the problem is Asian Ladybeetles. I use this:

http://www.pestproducts.com/tempo.htm

It is expensive but if you time it just right one application per year is enough and a container will last several years.

I use a jug sprayer that fits on the end of a garden hose and I soak the entire outside of the house. It does not smell bad and is not dangerous except to insects (and I believe there is a warning about fish and reptiles).

A side effect: It dries to a powder which can streak the windows.

When: just before they start swarming. Here it is around the first frost when the soybeans are being harvested. If you wait too long it will still work but you get a lot of dying bugs in the house.

In general I do not use pesticides but this is worth it. Everyone I have recommended this to raves about it.

-Bill
Ron
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Location: Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton, PA-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area

Re: Return of the stink bugs

Post by Ron »

DartThrower wrote:How common is this problem? If anyone else has this problem, do you have a strategy for dealing with it?
Since we're in the same area, we have the same problem :lol: ...

However, our current home was built in 1994, and is fairly airtight. Where we see them is in the family room, which has a masonry fireplace but we use gas logs rather than the dirt of wood (we like the look, we just don't like the pain of wood - going through that in our last home).

Since the chimney damper is always slightly open (because of the gas pilot light) I'm sure they just fly/fall in from the roof. We have a chimney cover with a spark arrestor, but it's still has holes large enough for them to get in.

How do I handle the half-dozen or more? Simple (vacuum cleaner) :lol: ... While they are a pain, at least they don't bite.

- Ron
rockbottom
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Post by rockbottom »

wmcclain wrote:In the upper Midwest the problem is Asian Ladybeetles.
In New York the problem is state assemblymen and city councilmembers. They certainly do smell bad, no matter how far away from them you are.
Topic Author
DartThrower
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Location: Philadelphia

Post by DartThrower »

rockbottom wrote:
wmcclain wrote:In the upper Midwest the problem is Asian Ladybeetles.
In New York the problem is state assemblymen and city councilmembers. They certainly do smell bad, no matter how far away from them you are.

ROTFL!

Thanks to everyone for the responses. Just venting really.
After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art. Chopin
Mister Moolah
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Post by Mister Moolah »

I also live in south eastern PA, and they are a problem. I actually forgot about them until I saw one in the backyard of my new house yesterday. I immediately stomped on it. So you can feel a little better that another stink bug was eradicated.
granpa
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stink bugs

Post by granpa »

while we're on the subject of pests....

Squirrels are eating all my pecans (still in the green shell). Can't shoot 'em where I live. Any advice on how to discourage them?
Rubber snakes and plastic owls don't work even if moved around every day.

(Have thought about picking the pecans I can reach and letting them dry but may be too soon for them to be any good that way.)

Thanks to any pecan admirers who have tried something that actually WORKS for advice!
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ryuns
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Re: stink bugs

Post by ryuns »

granpa wrote:while we're on the subject of pests....

Squirrels are eating all my pecans (still in the green shell). Can't shoot 'em where I live. Any advice on how to discourage them?
Rubber snakes and plastic owls don't work even if moved around every day.

(Have thought about picking the pecans I can reach and letting them dry but may be too soon for them to be any good that way.)

Thanks to any pecan admirers who have tried something that actually WORKS for advice!
Here you go: http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=513336
An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered. -- GK Chesterton
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zaplunken
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Post by zaplunken »

i seldom see them (brown stink bug) but there's a green sb that i see from time to time.

just as an aside, there's another bug that looks almost the same as the brown sb but it is a very GOOD bug and should not be killed. it is a spined soldier bug, note the difference is the spines that are prominent protruding from the shoulders. the sb has similar protrusions but they are rounded and not as long.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&s ... old&aqi=g1



http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... %26hl%3Den
granpa
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Re: stink bugs

Post by granpa »

ryuns wrote:
granpa wrote:while we're on the subject of pests....

Squirrels are eating all my pecans (still in the green shell). Can't shoot 'em where I live. Any advice on how to discourage them?
Rubber snakes and plastic owls don't work even if moved around every day.

(Have thought about picking the pecans I can reach and letting them dry but may be too soon for them to be any good that way.)

Thanks to any pecan admirers who have tried something that actually WORKS for advice!
Here you go: http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=513336
Thanks, ryuns, but believe the have me outnumbered now. Counted over 200 big green pecans on one tree before running to town this morning and now can see two (they must have missed 'em). . . .
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