Blog
What’s The Stink About Stink Bugs?
7/18/13
We’re coming up on the time of year when home and business owners throughout Pennsylvania should be thinking about stink bugs. Although life in the summer can be hectic, you’ll thank yourself later if you remember that stink bug prevention needs to be performed in the late summer to keep these pests from trying to overwinter inside your home.
What are stink bugs?
First found in Allentown PA in 1998, the brown marmorated stink bug is the type of stink bug that is most typically a problem for Pennsylvania property owners. They are approximately 17 millimeters in length and similar to other types of stink bugs, have a shield shape that makes them almost as wide as they are long. They are brown in color, with patches of copper or a blue-metallic color on their head and pronotum. These insects have scent glands that secrete an offensive smelling odor when they are startled or when they are squished.
Why are they a big deal?
These insects can be an agricultural problem, as they infest orchards and other agricultural areas and will feed on a wide range of fruits and vegetables, including apples, peaches, green beans, cherries and pears. In the home, these pests can be a problem in the fall, when they start looking for a safe and warm place to spend the winter. They will enter your home through siding, soffits and areas around windows and door frames; any area that is large enough to allow them entry into your home. When they get indoors, they will enter a state of hibernation called ‘diapause’. They may not move or fly around your home, but they are still alive, waiting for the warmer weather of spring to return. When spring arrives, they will awaken and fly towards windows or doors, looking for a way out of your house and back into nature. When this happens, you may find out you have a large infestation of stink bugs and you may be seeing a few every day, or you may be seeing them by the dozens! You may start to feel like it’s a full time job vacuuming these pests up or squishing them whenever you find them. Your pets may chase them around and your children may pick them up- they’ll be everywhere and you’ll wish you’d taken preventative measures in the fall to prevent these pests from entering your PA home.
What can be done to prevent them?
Preventing stink bugs takes some work, but it is well worth it if it limits the number of these pests that make it indoors in the fall. Typical pest prevention measures should be taken and these include:
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Checking the exterior of your home for any gaps or cracks in the structure and sealing them up to prevent insects from entering.
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Trimming back trees and shrubs so that they don’t touch the side of your home and create a bridge for invading insects.
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Replacing or repairing any damaged window or door screens.
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Contacting a pest control professional to perform yearly services on your home to prevent stink bugs and other nuisance pests from invading.
Considering a stink bug control service can benefit your Pennsylvania home greatly this winter. If you have a service performed now, you won’t have to worry about an infestation of stink bugs trying to get back outdoors in the spring. If you forget to call a pest control professional for stink bug prevention services in the fall and you end up calling them in the spring when the pests are becoming an obvious problem, you’ll find there is very little they can do for you at that time, because the bugs will already be inside your home. They will suggest vacuuming these pests up and killing them whenever you locate them, but their services are best when performed proactively in the fall.
If you live in Pennsylvania and you are looking for preventative stink bug treatments this fall, look no further than the professionals at Moyer Indoor | Outdoor in Souderton PA. They have been in business serving the homes and businesses of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Northampton and Philadelphia counties since 1869 and know what it takes to get rid of your pest problem. Contact Moyer today for more information on all their services.