# Stink Bugs(?!?!)



## bluedogz (Oct 7, 2012)

Started up the 30 for my first burn of the year... noted I shut the door a tad too early and secondaries weren't jumping, so I cracked the door and was greeted by an army of stink bugs!

Something I should have "summerized" against?


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## bostock (Oct 7, 2012)

yup i finished install of my new (pre-owned) stove yesterday and lit a test fire and the stinkbug army came outta there quick. the room smelled like cilantro for about 20 minutes but then it was gone


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## bluedogz (Oct 7, 2012)

Well, I solved the problem in the short term by closing the door again.  Secondaries died, but so did the stink bugs.  Finito benito.


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## WellSeasoned (Oct 7, 2012)

I had a few as well when I first lit the stove.


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## begreen (Oct 7, 2012)

Were the bugs imported in the wood?


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## bluedogz (Oct 7, 2012)

begreen said:


> Were the bugs imported in the wood?


 
Fair question, but since I only found then IN the stove and the woodpile NEXT TO the stove shows no signs of stink-buggery, I'm thinking they found their way into the stove on their own.


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## bostock (Oct 7, 2012)

begreen - it's a regional pest (primarily MD and PA but moving in all directions over the last 5+ years ). They nest in every crevice they can find inside or outside a house, car, hanging clothes, under a grill cover, everything. My wife works for USDA, the bug hitchhiked here from China somehow. first documented infestation is Allentown PA in approx 1991. No remedy, we just live with them and their horrible smell.


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## begreen (Oct 7, 2012)

Bummer. Please tell them to stay on your side of the Mississippi.


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## ScotO (Oct 7, 2012)

Them damm things are a royal pain in the azz!  Thankfully, they have been TOO bad yet this fall, but we still occasionally find one here and there in the house.  Every sunny afternoon in the fall there are several on the screens of the windows (outside).


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## Sprinter (Oct 7, 2012)

bostock said:


> yup i finished install of my new (pre-owned) stove yesterday and lit a test fire and the stinkbug army came outta there quick.* the room smelled like cilantro for about 20 minutes* but then it was gone





begreen said:


> Bummer. Please tell them to stay on your side of the Mississippi.


As much as I like the smell of cilantro, I agree with begreen...


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## HollowHill (Oct 7, 2012)

They've made it to upstate NY    Since we live in an old house, offer more crevices than most.  Now drafts aren't the only thing that infiltrates. They are driving my son nuts, he can't tolerate them, they know it, and have chosen his room as their meeting place.  Every few minutes we hear a scream, hasty running, and the toilet flushing.  Our septic is probably going to explode soon.


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## BrowningBAR (Oct 7, 2012)

No stink bugs in Arizona, Blue.


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## Sprinter (Oct 7, 2012)

bostock said:


> begreen - it's a regional pest (primarily MD and PA but moving in all directions over the last 5+ years ). They nest in every crevice they can find inside or outside a house, car, hanging clothes, under a grill cover, everything. My wife works for USDA,* the bug hitchhiked here from China somehow.* first documented infestation is Allentown PA in approx 1991. No remedy, we just live with them and their horrible smell.


 


> *No stink bugs in Arizona, Blue.*


 
Clearly, we need tougher immigration laws


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## ScotO (Oct 7, 2012)

HollowHill said:


> They've made it to upstate NY  Since we live in an old house, offer more crevices than most. Now drafts aren't the only thing that infiltrates. They are driving my son nuts, he can't tolerate them, they know it, and have chosen his room as their meeting place. Every few minutes we hear a scream, hasty running, and the toilet flushing. Our septic is probably going to explode soon.


My oldest son is autistic, and he is terrified of them! He goes around the house on 'stinkbug patrol', notifying us of the whereabouts of every single last one of them.......and he elects me to go and eradicate them.....


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## fossil (Oct 7, 2012)

Oh, we have stink bugs west of the Mississippi. These guys (or something that looks just like them) routinely come hitchhiking on Lodgepole Pine. I guess they live on those trees. They're really slow bugs, but they will find their way to dang near anywhere. Their odor is a defense, so if they feel threatened they release the stink. Of course, if you smash one you'll smell it as well. They seem to winter over deep in the wood stacks , then, with the warming of spring, out they come. Or maybe they lay eggs in the wood and then they die during winter and the next generation is what I see emerging in the spring...I dunno. I've never seen an "army" of them in the stove (or anywhere else), the only ones I've ever seen in the stove I put in there when I loaded the splits they were on. They're loners, I've never seen two or more together except sometimes when I turn over a split that's been in the stack for a long time. In the cold of winter, they're inactive...unless they find their favorite split (the one they happen to be clinging to) just went into the stove, then there's a _very_ brief period of activity.


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## ScotO (Oct 7, 2012)

fossil said:


> Oh, we have stink bugs west of the Mississippi. These guys (or something that looks just like them) routinely come hitchhiking on Lodgepole Pine. I guess they live on those trees. They're really slow bugs, but they will find their way to dang near anywhere. Their odor is a defense, so if they feel threatened they release the stink. Of course, if you smash one one you'll smell it as well. They seem to winter over deep in the wood stacks , then, with the warming of spring, out they come. Or maybe they lay eggs in the wood and then they die during winter and the next generation is what I see emerging in the spring...I dunno. I've never seen an "army" of them in the stove (or anywhere else), the only ones I've ever seen in the stove I put in there when I loaded the splits they were on. They're loners, I've never seen two or more together except sometimes when I turn over a split that's been in the stack for a long time. In the cold of winter, they're inactive...unless they find their favorite split (the one they happen to be clinging to) just went into the stove, then there's a _very_ brief period of activity.
> 
> View attachment 76223


Yep, thats one of the little bassturds, alright!  During the spring and summer months, they are very hard to see as they are as green as the leaves on the trees.  Not sure if they are like a chameleon or if they go through different color phases, but I always see them in the early to mid summer and they are a completely different color...


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## Todd 2 (Oct 7, 2012)

Scotty Overkill said:


> My oldest son is autistic, and he is terrified of them! He goes around the house on 'stinkbug patrol', notifying us of the whereabouts of every single last one of them.......and he elects me to go and eradicate them.....


The kids call them Gladiator bugs, the youngest thought  he could do battle with them till he messed with them the first time


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## ScotO (Oct 7, 2012)

Todd 2 said:


> The kids call them Gladiator bugs, the youngest thought he could do battle with them till he messed with them the first time


  A good friend of mine from high school was telling us about here 3yr old daughter.  She was in another room and decided to peek in on her little girl who had gotten quiet all of the sudden.....when she went to check on her, she said her daughter had this puckered look on her face like she had just eaten something REALLY sour.  She quickly went over and opened the little girls mouth to find a stinkbug chewed up to bits!  

nasty, nasty, NASTY!!


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## Sprinter (Oct 7, 2012)

fossil said:


> Oh, we have stink bugs west of the Mississippi. These guys (or something that looks just like them) routinely come hitchhiking on Lodgepole Pine. I guess they live on those trees. They're really slow bugs, but they will find their way to dang near anywhere. Their odor is a defense, so if they feel threatened they release the stink. Of course, if you smash one one you'll smell it as well. They seem to winter over deep in the wood stacks , then, with the warming of spring, out they come. Or maybe they lay eggs in the wood and then they die during winter and the next generation is what I see emerging in the spring...I dunno. I've never seen an "army" of them in the stove (or anywhere else), the only ones I've ever seen in the stove I put in there when I loaded the splits they were on. They're loners, I've never seen two or more together except sometimes when I turn over a split that's been in the stack for a long time. In the cold of winter, they're inactive...unless they find their favorite split (the one they happen to be clinging to) just went into the stove, then there's a _very_ brief period of activity.
> 
> View attachment 76223


Oh, yeah.  I thought they were something new.  We had those in the Spokane area and called them stink bugs there, too, but I haven't seen any around here in the western part.  Even over there, it wasn't as severe a problem.  Maybe it's a climate thing.


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## Todd 2 (Oct 7, 2012)

Scotty Overkill said:


> A good friend of mine from high school was telling us about here 3yr old daughter. She was in another room and decided to peek in on her little girl who had gotten quiet all of the sudden.....when she went to check on her, she said her daughter had this puckered look on her face like she had just eaten something REALLY sour. She quickly went over and opened the little girls mouth to find a stinkbug chewed up to bits!
> 
> nasty, nasty, NASTY!!


That would be the $10,000 winner on funniest home videos, I can just imagine the look


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## ScotO (Oct 7, 2012)

Todd 2 said:


> That would be the $10,000 winner on funniest home videos, I can just imagine the look


 THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT SHE SAID!  She was mortified at first, but now laughs about it!  Too bad she didn't have a video camera on hand......


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## fossil (Oct 7, 2012)

Scotty Overkill said:


> Yep, thats one of the little bassturds, alright! During the spring and summer months, they are very hard to see as they are as green as the leaves on the trees. Not sure if they are like a chameleon or if they go through different color phases, but I always see them in the early to mid summer and they are a completely different color...


 
Well, there are different "flavors", similarly shaped but certainly can be differently colored and be generally found in different places.  Then there are other bugs (beetles, etc.) that folks refer to as "stink bugs" but are completely different from these guys.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentatomidae


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## ScotO (Oct 7, 2012)

fossil said:


> Well, there are different "flavors", similarly shaped but certainly can be differently colored and be generally found in different places.  Then there are other bugs (beetles, etc.) that folks refer to as "stink bugs" but are completely different from these guys.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentatomidae



Thanks fossil.....didn't realize there was a whole family of those damm things!


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## fossil (Oct 7, 2012)

Yeah man, if Kathleen finds this discussion, I bet she can teach all of us a thing or two about these bugs. She's a very smart natural scientist.  Right off the cuff, my guess would be that the bugs you know are not exactly the same bugs as the ones I know clear over here on the left coast.


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## johnsopi (Oct 7, 2012)

I'm on the DE MD line and we have a real lot of them. I knock them to the ground then step on them. 50 maybe.


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## fossil (Oct 7, 2012)

There was also this discussion recently in the Inglenook (which is where I think this thread belongs, and I'll move it there):

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/stink-bugs-are-back.90849/#post-1190326


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## bluedogz (Oct 7, 2012)

fossil said:


> Oh, we have stink bugs west of the Mississippi. These guys (or something that looks just like them) routinely come hitchhiking on Lodgepole Pine. I guess they live on those trees. They're really slow bugs, but they will find their way to dang near anywhere. Their odor is a defense, so if they feel threatened they release the stink. Of course, if you smash one one you'll smell it as well. They seem to winter over deep in the wood stacks , then, with the warming of spring, out they come. Or maybe they lay eggs in the wood and then they die during winter and the next generation is what I see emerging in the spring...I dunno. I've never seen an "army" of them in the stove (or anywhere else), the only ones I've ever seen in the stove I put in there when I loaded the splits they were on. They're loners, I've never seen two or more together except sometimes when I turn over a split that's been in the stack for a long time. In the cold of winter, they're inactive...unless they find their favorite split (the one they happen to be clinging to) just went into the stove, then there's a _very_ brief period of activity.
> 
> View attachment 76223


 
Yeah- these are the ones we have.  Most annoying insect I think I can name- we don't have mosquitoes much up here.


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## firebroad (Oct 9, 2012)

Scotty Overkill said:


> Yep, thats one of the little bassturds, alright! During the spring and summer months, they are very hard to see as they are as green as the leaves on the trees. Not sure if they are like a chameleon or if they go through different color phases, but I always see them in the early to mid summer and they are a completely different color...


The green ones are native, but still can be a pain in the a$$, especially in the garden. A lot of times I find their dead carcasses clinging to the draperies in spring.
The imported variety is the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, and doesn't seem to have any natural enemies over here. Even chickens won't eat them.
Two years ago before I had the insert, I lit a nice fire in the fireplace for the first time, and about a dozen of the little stinkers started fleeing from around the glass doors. The cat was pointing them out like a hunting dog while I snatched 'em up with a tissue to toss in the fire. The firebox was filled with them, dropping from the chimney, buzzing in agony as they were incinerated. Did my heart good to witness that.
Anyway, didn't see any carnage last year, and only one lone blighter trying to escape in vain this year.

   P.S.--Contrary to popular belief, it is POSSIBLE to crush them without releasing that goddess-awful smell.  The trick is is QUICKLY snuff them out with a tissue.  If you delay for even a second to dispach them, they will have time to release the nasty spray, and wow, will you feel ill.


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## fossil (Oct 9, 2012)

This guy was taking advantage of our unusually warm "Stink Bug Summer" October afternoon temps to do work on his tan:


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## ScotO (Oct 9, 2012)

SQUISH'EM, RICK!  QUICK BEFORE HE GETS AWAY!


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## fossil (Oct 9, 2012)

Scotty Overkill said:


> SQUISH'EM, RICK! QUICK BEFORE HE GETS AWAY!


 
No way, Scotty...I ain't squishin' him.  I can't squish 'em all...and I really don't want to smell like 'em.  I'll just look forward to burning a bunch of 'em over the winter.


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## ScotO (Oct 9, 2012)

You're right, them little bastiges STINK!


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