By Julianna Wilson
It’s that time of year again when brown marmorated stink bugs invade structures humans create looking for a
place to hunker down for winter. Since last fall when Michigan residents were asked to report brown
marmorated stink bugs in their homes, we now know that brown marmorated stink bugs are well-established as a
nuisance pest in homes in the southern Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
What are they doing?
Brown marmorated stink bugs are looking for a protected place to hibernate over the winter. They will leave your house again in the spring – if they can find their way back out – to look for plants to feed on and laytheir eggs outside.
What are they NOT doing?
They are NOT nesting, laying eggs or feeding on anything or anyone in your house. These are plant-feeding insects with straw-like mouthparts for drinking plant juices – they are harmless to humans and pets.
What do you need to do?
- Don’t panic.
- Look for gaps around window air conditioners or holes in window screens and block them off – these are easy access points for brown marmorated stink bugs to enter houses.
- The easiest, non-toxic way to dispose of them is with a couple inches of soapy water in a bucket – the soap prevents them from escaping the water. Sweep them into the bucket and they will drown in the soapy water, which you can then dump outside. Or you can do the same with a Shop-Vac – add the soapy water to the canister before vacuuming them up with the Shop-Vac.
- Report how many you’ve seen at a given location using the Midwest Invasive Species Information Network. If you have trouble entering the information on the Midwest Invasive Species Information Network website, leave a message for Julianna Wilson via email at jkwilson@msu.edu or by phone at 517-432-4766 with your name, address (or nearest crossroads), the date you saw them, and how many you have seen.
The map below shows where we have received reports to the Midwest Invasive Species Information Network of brown marmorated stink bugs in the Lower Peninsula since Sept. 25, 2015.
Source: msu.edu