STINKBUG INVASION IN FRANKLIN AND
CUMBERLAND COUNTIES OF PENNSYLVANIA
Shippensburg and Chambersburg homes have been inundated with these nasty, prehistoric looking bugs. They were bad last year and were around earlier this year but over this past weekend they INVADED! The seemed to come in around our window air conditioner and according to the experts, they enter homes from the south facing windows and/or doors. All I know is I have never seen so many of these creatures in my Shippensburg home. They are all over our window screens, inside and outside our screened porch, and inside our house. I spent Sunday trying to remove them, it took hours, then they were back the next day. Experts say:
"The stink bugs in question are Chinese imports, first reported in Pa., in 1996. They probably arrived in packing material with shipped goods. Since touching down in America, the Asian stink bug has made remarkable progress for an insect that can take half an afternoon to make its way across your living room.
During warm weather, they are busy making more stink bugs, feeding on home and orchard crops and lurking in evergreens, especially spruce, pine, hemlock and fir. As soon as the nights cool, though, your house looks very good to them, and they seek entry through any tiny crevice, torn screen, unprotected vent or loose bit of flashing.
Here's the good news: They don't reproduce indoors and they don't feed on much of anything. They can't bite, lacking mouth parts, but if you mess with them, they might try to stab you with the same sharp proboscis they use to pierce fruit and suck plant juices.
The bad news is that, like skunks, they are equipped with glands that squirt a foul-smelling liquid as a defense against predators. The smell, alternately described as reminiscent of rancid almonds or moldy fruit, is released when they are crushed or disturbed.
Vacuums with bags are good, since you can immediately seal, remove and discard them, buggy cargo and all. Bagless types? Not so good. I'd guess a small wet-dry shop vac would serve, since you could capture the offenders and then drown them by adding soapy water.
One thing you want to avoid is crushing them, since the lingering scent can be detected by other stink bugs long after it has faded from our own olfactory memory and draw more stink bugs to your hearthside. Let's not go there, either.
DO NOT use bug bombs or dusts to try to rid yourself of amassed stinkers in attics or wall voids where the vacuum cannot go. Stink bug corpses can attract scavenger insects like carpet beetles that will cause you real and expensive trouble."
I had read that putting them in a container with detergent will kill them so that is what I did. My husband was laughing at me all day but it worked! After about an hour I had it figured out, I put really sticky tape on the end of a yardstick and picked them off the walls and ceilings with this contraption then dropped them into the detergent mixture. If they were within reach, I put the container under them with the intent of bumping them into it, but believe it or not, about 9 out of 10 times they just jumped into the water on their own! I am not sure why they did this but happened every time, even on the screened porch.
Fortunately I have not had any negative feedback on homes for sale in Shippensburg or Chambersburg due to these creatures and I hope it stays that way.
Curious, are any other areas this affected with stinkbugs and if so, what if anything is being done to be rid of them. Any negative feedback from buyers or other agents?
For information on buying or selling homes in Chambersburg or Shippensburg, PA please contact me at susanackerman@remax.net
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