Sick of Stink Bugs

[dawn_felagund]

Along with the rest of the east coast, it seems, we are being invaded by brown marmorated stink bugs. I just had lunch on the patio, and I counted more than 100 on the back of the house. We find them constantly in the house; during last night's "check for arth" (undertaken nightly to rid our bedroom of the spiders and insects that end up there on a regular basis during the summer), Bobby found four in the bedroom. When I bring in the laundry, it's full of them. I felt something tickling the back of my leg the other day and assumed one of the Goldens had brushed me with his whiskers or tail but, upon scratching my leg, found a stinkbug crawling up my dress. When I opened the silverware drawer while fixing lunch, there was one crushed between the drawer and the counter.

They are apparently an invasive species from Asia. Someone asked about them at the IPM lecture at HHF the other week. I seem to recall that they first appeared in Pennsylvania. Now, apparently, they're assaulting the whole east coast, doing terrible damage to crop and annoying the hell out of everyone else. Both the Baltimore Sun and the Carroll County Times have articles on them today. No one really knows what to do about them.

And they do stink. If you piss them off a little, they smell like cilantro, which can work well as a herb in some foods but is not the most pleasant-smelling plant in the world. If you really piss them off, they get that chemical-candy smell, like squash bugs (which they're related to) but not quite as Jolly Rancherish.

ETA: Okay, we just caught about 30 of them in the bedroom. They were coming in the air conditioning unit.

The air conditioning unit has been removed, and the chickens just enjoyed a treat.

However, even after washing, my hands still smell of cilantro.

Comments

[grey_gazania]

Ugh, you too? They are a royal pain in the tuchas.

Rutgers is collecting specimens and sighting reports, if you want to file one.

[dawn_felagund]

I just sent a report--thank you! :D

We're overrun with them. We've seen a few in years past, but this year, we have literally hundreds. It's been one of our top news stories--they're everywhere!

[ithilwen]

At least it's a change from smelling like Jolly Ranchers. :D

[dawn_felagund]

True! Though why they always must smell like a food (even if a "food" like Jolly Ranchers that I'm not particularly inclined to eat) is beyond me! I found a black swallowtail caterpillar in the garden the other day that had a foul smell (probably caused by my poking it repeatedly to make its "horns" pop out): It smelled like poop. So I never have to worry about smelling a food and saying, "Oh, that smells like black swallowtail caterpillars!" I hope ... :D

[ithilwen]

Could be worse. Everything in pathology seems to be named after food. How anyone could look at diseased tissue and think of something edible is beyond me! You'd think this would be a great aid in sticking with my diet, as it does do wonders for killing one's appetite right before lunch.