Recently my husband managed to get our horribly cluttered carport cleaned. After moving some wood boards that were leaning up against the house we discovered an interesting sight.
Lots of Stinkbugs Frozen In time...
Stinkbugs grouped together, some on top of one another. They were completely motionless in a dormant state. 4
Let's Learn A Little About Stinkbugs!!!
Stinkbugs are a somewhat new concept to us. I'd never seen many stinkbugs until we moved out into rural Tennessee near the woods a few years ago. Since moving into our house they are everywhere! Our first winter here we had a few move in with us. Since they are pretty harmless we ignored their presence and let them sleep in the corner of the living room for the winter until the eventually left when the weather warmed. Our second winter was far worse. I guess the first winter guests told all their buddies how nice and warm our house was and they and their entire families decided to move in. Worst guests ever.
Stinkbugs Go Dormant In The Winter
"Diapause: a period of suspended development in an insect, other invertebrate, or mammal embryo, especially during unfavorable environmental conditions." - Dictionary Definition
The concept of "diapause" is what happens to stinkbugs in the winter. Basically, when this happens stinkbugs metabolism slows down, they need very little to no food, and they become dormant. This is how they survive cold weather. Stinkbugs find cracks and crevaces where they hunker down for winter and go dormant to survive. They wake back up when the weather warms up. source
This winter has been crazy! We had spring weather in February and snow in April. Mother nature has been waking the stinkbugs up and putting them back to sleep all winter with the highs and lows of constant temperature changes. The stinkbugs in our house would disappear when it was really cold outside but would become active as we hit random bits of warmth. This winter the household stinkbugs never really went dormant for long compared to the year before when the winter was free of them while they slumbered constantly.
This group's dormancy home was behind some old pallets against the house
It was cold out when these stinkbugs hiding spot was revealed. They didn't move or seem to recognize they were now exposed. I'd go check on them from time to time thinking they might be dead and not dormant. Then, on a warm spring day I noticed every single one gone. Not sure if an animal got to them or if they woke up and left.
Do stinkbugs really stink?
I found out the answer to that when my sweet one year old daughter caught a stinkbug and put it in her mouth....It didn't hurt her but she did cry. I imagine it tasted terrible once it started emitting a horrible stench. I got the bug out of her mouth and it fell on the floor still alive. It crawled under the couch. The smell was so strong I could smell it in three different rooms of the house. It was kind of like a burning rubber smell.
Stinkbugs are properly named because they smell horrible. I avoid smashing them because the smell is so strong. This is their defense mechanism to protect them from predators and danger. Having your house invaded by stinkbugs every winter is hard because it's easy to accidentally step on one and release their smell. I've found a bug zapper is the best method of dealing with an invasion of them. They are attracted to the light of the zapper and fry once they touch it. The smell of fried stinkbug is more tolerable than smashed stinkbug.
They're a neat looking insect.
Outside they are perfectly camouflaged to hide out in the woods. Inside on my pretty cornflower blue walls they are pretty easy to spot.
Definitely A Pest
For the most part stinkbugs are harmless. I rarely am bothered finding one or two in the house. It's in the winter when they find their way inside in large numbers that they become a pest. They are able to fly and will randomly pop off a light fixture to fly around my head scaring me. I've had them crawl into bed with me. Winter stinkbugs hide everywhere and that makes them a huge winter pest. The best method to get rid of them is anything that doesn't involve smashing. The bug zapper works. Flushing them down the toilet or throwing them outside works. Sometimes I suck them up with the vacuum cleaner but that sometimes releases their stench. I don't use poisons in the house. Stinkbugs are a big enough bug, and a slow enough bug you can catch them pretty easy.
Overall, I'm glad we're reaching spring so I can be rid of all the stinkbugs in our house. I'm not seeing as many outside around the porches like I do in winter. Now onto spring where I'll be dealing with yellow jackets and waspers galore!
Photo credit: all pictures are my own.
