
When Twenty-Six Thousand Stinkbugs Invade Your Home - dredmorbius
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/12/when-twenty-six-thousand-stinkbugs-invade-your-home
======
whalesalad
Great article. There are few things on this earth I absolutely cannot tolerate
in any amount: cilantro and these insects. My first exposure to them was in
Virginia around 2012. Don’t ever take a shop-vac to a huge cluster of them:
you’ll just blast cilantro stink at an ungodly CFM all over your home.

Now I live in Michigan and have, anecdotally, watched their population
skyrocket here. Last year my strategy was simple but worked well because I was
diligent about doing it many times a day for a week or two until they were
mostly all dead around my home.

I’d put on nitrile mechanics gloves and fill a 2 liter soda bottle with dawn
dish detergent and hot water. Shake it up to get some bubbles going. Then I’d
wander my home with the bottle collecting the bugs. They’d usually die
instantly after getting stuck in the foam. You’d watch them eventually sink to
the bottom. I’d either grab one off my home with my left hand (gloved!) or by
gently squeezing the bottle, holding it near a bug, and releasing, it would
almost suck those clumsy little bastards in with a gentle vacuum.

Put the cap on and let them surely die for a few days. Then pour it out in the
corner of the yard and try again.

If I see one I won’t rest until they are all dead.

~~~
bmurphy1976
Seems like a lot of effort to me. They are pretty lazy bugs. When I find one I
pick it up with a tissue and flick it out the window. They are big and dense
enough that you can send them really far away from the house.

~~~
whalesalad
I want them dead. It's very rewarding to dump out 50-100 dead bugs into the
trash knowing they won't be reproducing.

~~~
ams6110
Yeah honestly that's like scooping a bucket of water out of the Mississippi
River and thinking you're helping prevent a spring flood. But I understand the
satisfaction anyway.

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ChuckMcM
That was a depressing read. As an engineer though I'm already imagining
mechanical ways to try to mitigate their population. Given their attraction to
warmth I could imagine a cylinder with vents that warms itself to invite in
the bugs, then when full it seals itself and flushes with a solvent or
incinerates with a gas flame. Once clean it re-opens for the next batch.

No doubt there is something wrong with that but it would be an interesting
project to build and figure out if you could exterminate large quantities of
these bugs with that technique.

~~~
dredmorbius
The bugs are actually fairly easy to kill: a weak detergent solution in water
will do so in a few minutes, and very simple traps based on this.

Adding the concept of some form of bait -- food or heat seem to be the obvious
options, might be the bee's knees. I'm thinking of a simple solar concentrator
under one of these bait stations to create a warm attractive target (set out
in the mid-to-late fall when the bugs are seeking out warmth) and attract the
bugs.

For ag: a concentrated essence of whatever it is that most attracts the
stinkbugs, with a similar detergent-water trap underneath, around field or
orchard perimeters, might serve.

The bulk materials are inexpensive. The attractants, if sufficiently targeted,
should not have an excessive impact on other insects.

The wasp angle also seems attractive, though potentially risky (see the cane
toad angle from the story).

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JauntTrooper
I remember the first few summers they invaded Maryland en masse. They were
everywhere, like the article describes. I got pretty good at picking them up
with papers and throwing them in the toilet without them spraying their smell.

My mother noticed they were coming through the chimney so she sprayed up there
with some sort of bug spray.

Bad idea. Hundreds of them died and fell all at once, each releasing their
stink reserves in death. There were several vacuum cleaner bags worth of them.
The living room smelled like soapy rotten cilantro for a week.

They were so new, they didn’t really have natural predators. I was so happy to
see a robin eat one one day. They didn’t come back in nearly as great a number
after that.

~~~
paul7986
Here in Harford county, MD they have annoyed my household each year since 2010
or so. Especially mid fall til end of February.

I was just looking for them today via a scan of my room yet not seeing any...
when in season I can just look up and around any room in my house and see one.

Overall they are most annoying and worthless creature on the planet. Maybe
they provide a benefit to society yet due to being so annoying and gross any
benefit goes out the window for me!

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sethammons
Wow. These guys can be found around my property in the summer. I had no idea
these were stink bugs and despite handling them when I was younger, I've never
smelled anything foul about them.

After some googling, the bug that I am familiar with as a stink bug is also
known as a pinacate bug. These are up to an inch and a half long, and I never
see more than two at a time. When I thought of 26k of these invading a house,
I was shocked. Finding out this other beetle is also a stink bug was fun to
learn. I could imagine an invasion of these.

These stink bugs are similar to box elder bugs, a kissing beetle, which can
swarm when it warms up. These guys, I've had collect up in window sills. There
are vastly more outside than in (they are flying around, gathering
everywhere), but can be just an annoyance inside as they keep to windows.

These smaller stink bugs have an apparent vector of the Tree of Heaven,
another invasive species that is actively combatted in my area. So it makes
sense we would have the smaller stink bugs too. I was also surprised to read
they were first documented in 1996 in America as I can recall these at least
as early as 1990 or 1992. As a little kid, I would have to look out for them
on the blackberries I picked out of my yard.

~~~
gdubs
Glad to hear we’re not the only ones! The box elder bugs definitely love
windows, and the insulation in door frames. They like to overwinter in those
spots.

The box elders can be a big nuisance - but they are also very pretty at an
individual level.

~~~
JshWright
They _love_ to live under the cedar shingle siding of my house... Invariably
the house will be swarmed a couple times a year.

~~~
sxcurry
I’m being swarmed by box elder bugs right now - thousands of them on the sunny
walls of the house. I shop vac them up. Luckily they don’t stink.

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towb
These are called "bärfisar" in swedish ("berry farts"). Don't think we have
the house invading kind... yet. Looked it up, there are over 6000 variants, we
have 28 here.

Had some problems with flour beetles once, they didn't exactly smell like
roses either. Not sure if I ever crushed a berry fart though so don't know how
it compares. Probably much worse.

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rjbwork
Been dealing with these things over the winter. I'm both glad and creeped out
by having read this now. I have a method to kill them that works and doesn't
smell, but is quite annoying - I shoot them with my salt gun a few times. The
real key is to get a near-range shot to the underside. Sometimes It takes a
number of them, but I can usually do it in 3. One to knock em down from their
perch, one to stun, one to kill.

The salt it leaves behind is annoying to clean, of course, but I've found it
to be quite effective.

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MarkMMullin
We're completely invaded in NH - best trick I've learned is leave a shallow
pan of water in kitchen with desk light shining on it all nite - rinse and
repeat every day :-(

~~~
fredleblanc
Also in NH here. I’m going to try this out this summer. Luckily we “only” get
about 5-10 per day in the hotter months so far.

~~~
tclancy
Same here. We moved to a new house a few years ago and was hoping they’d stay
at the old one, but no luck.

Also: hey Fred!

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softwaredoug
I’d recommend enjoying some [salsa de
jumiles]([https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumiles](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumiles))
- stinkbug salsa.

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frgtpsswrdlame
Great article! I haven't actually seen these yet even though they appear to be
present in my area. One thing I'll say for all the HNers that may grow roses -
monitor the (mentioned) Japanese Beetle map:
[https://www.pioneer.com/CMRoot/pioneer/US/images/agronomy/li...](https://www.pioneer.com/CMRoot/pioneer/US/images/agronomy/library_corn/pests/japanese_beetle/jap_beetle_distrib.jpg)

These things are absolutely crazy as well.

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jimnotgym
When I heard that there was a need for an insecticide that could be used in
the home it made me think the unthinkable...

What about DDT? If it works it is not terribly toxic to humans but is pretty
good at killing insets in general. The devastating consequences to the
environment would be avoided if used in the home. I believe it is still used
for mosquito control in Africa.

I see in the Wikipedia article it is banned by international treaty except for
disease control purposes due to the environmental dangers of it's agricultural
use. But I guess it would be good to know if it works...

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sjg007
Man if I get these, I’m moving into the city.

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mhb
It says that pesticides are not that effective because the stinkbug's long
legs keep them from much contact with the pesticide on a surface. Maybe could
use pesticide balls with little spikes all over them (like burrs) to make
better contact with the stinkbug.

~~~
dredmorbius
Direct spray onto a collecting surface seems to work fairly well. In my
experience, the bugs will congregate on window screens. Spraying them with a
weak (1/4 or lower) mix of detergent (Dawn, Trader Joe's handsoap at a 10 shot
/ litre, or Clearwood & Sage Multi-Purpose Cleaner at 1/4 - 1/8 strength) will
kill them in a few minutes.

I've offed 100s per day in this manner.

A screen-based bait / spray station might automate this.

~~~
mhb
I'm thinking more for crops.

~~~
dredmorbius
Right. I still think that getting the bugs to the kill-system is probably more
effective than getting the kill-system to the bugs. Figuring out how to create
bait-and-kill systems that are cheap, abundant, targeted, and effective is
probably the best option.

Attractant, kill mechanism (detergent & water), and some way of getting the
bugs onto / into / misted by this, is the general formula I'm looking at.

Spray-based pesticides is a move-the-mountain-to-Mohammed approach.

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dredmorbius
As submitter, I found this to be a good backgrounder on the history and
dynamics of this phenomenon, though it's weak on the aspect of residential
control, at least for modest infestations: detergent-and-water bait stations,
kill jars (have a tightly-fitting lid to avoid the stink), or spray bottles,
work well.

Dawn dishwashing detergent is frequently mentioned (I've found any of several
detergents works well), in a weak solution. Trader Joe's Cleary & Sage Multi-
Purpose Cleaner cut to 1/4, 1/8, or weaker strength, pump hand soaps at ~5-10
pumps per 1 litre bottle, are all effective.

The major problem is when you have a _large_ infestation and need to break the
cycle. I don't have a solution for this, yet.

The buggers _absolutely_ cluster on the back surfaces of furniture, wall-
hangings, curtains, etc., as well as inside lampshades and other spaces.
Frequent checks of these are useful. They also turn up behind books and other
shelved items. And inside dressers, cabinets, closets, etc.

The other element of the story I find interesting are the dynamics involved:
transport (and commerce) systems and infestations, unintended consequences,
private benefits vs. socialised costs, the requirement for regulation and
inspection, and comparison with earlier swarming infestations.

On transport, this passage especially:

 _Prior to the era of planetwide transportation networks, species routinely
took millennia to establish themselves in new places. Today, thousands move
around the world every day—by ship and plane and freight and pallet and
packing crate, by business meetings in Switzerland and military deployments in
Pakistan and tourism in Hawaii. At present, this vast influx of new species
costs the United States about a hundred and twenty billion dollars a year and
is, after habitat destruction, the main reason the world has lost so much
biodiversity._

In another context, I'd turned up a reference to epidemiology: If a phenomenon
follows transport or communications networks, it's an epidemic. This seems to
be a general rule. (Sadly the reference is resisting attempts at rediscovering
it.)

James Burke, commenting on his wildly successful 1980 television programme
_Connections_ several decades later, on how he'd continue the themes of the
first series, mentioned for the jet airliner, epidemics. That is, _any_
transportation system will become involved in the spread of disease _or other
dishygenic agents_. That's a valuable lesson.

The fact that it was importers and exporters who _didn 't_ practice sufficient
sanitation who brought about the spread of this epidemic reflects on the
privatised benefit / socialised cost element.

And the fact that there are now significant restrictions, inspections, and
insect-control regimes (including fumigating and/or heat-treating imports and
exports, including such goods as automobiles), speaks to regulation and the
concept of _well_ and _appropriately_ regulated activities.

There's swarming behaviour itself and the role it plays ecologically.
Typically these involve flying or air-transmissible creatures or agents, with
birds (the passenger pigeon), and grasshopper/locust behavioural phase-
switching organisms, as key exemplars. A swarming or flocking mode allows for
a seeking out and amortisation of some nutrient or food potential, in a fast-
acting fashion. There are obvious analogues to various human, commercial, and
economic behaviours here as well.

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mikkqu
I would expect to see some photos but there is none :-(

~~~
dredmorbius
Those are easy enough to find elsewhere, and the textual information is quite
good.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bug)

Though ... the bits on trapping/killing the bugs is weak. Soap/detergent seems
quite effective.

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bayesian_horse
I heard they are quite tasty, though. Seriously!

~~~
mhb
Not according to this article.

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DamonHD
Well written: both interesting to read and apparently accurate on detail and
sources.

~~~
dredmorbius
Pretty good, though a bit defeatist on the baiting / trapping / killing
element: detergent-based traps _do_ work well.

As submitter, that's the weakest element of this article.

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coding123
Just found one in the Arizona desert. Oh boy. I thought I was safe here.

