by Emily Jerez
They are everywhere! They climb up and down the walls disturbing homeowners across the nation. Their stench lingers for weeks at a time. They can be found in every nook and cranny. These pesky stink bugs never seem to leave our lives.
Stink Bugs are actually not from America. In the 1900s they migrated to America from their native countries in East Asia. It is said that they migrated here on boats when people from Asia were transporting goods to America (Marchiando).
Stink Bugs release their “cilantro” smelling scent whenever they are tampered with. They use their smell as a defense mechanism like a skunk. Once their scent is released, it attracts other stink bugs, which in return, breed quickly.
Every year people think about what can possibly be done to get rid of these creatures for good, and every year the task fails. One way to take care of this ongoing problem is to get rid of all plants, fruits, grass, basically the human population will have to move to a desert with no vegetation whatsoever.
According to OHS Junior Kaitlyn Gilbert, “Stinks bugs are all over my house. One time as I was sleeping I felt something crawling on me, I looked under my shirt and OH MY GOSH there was a stink bug on my stomach! I almost cried!”
Since moving to a desert is not practical, there are other ways to lower the population of stink bugs in your home. The easy route to take when in this situation is to use a vacuum and suck them up!
Also,try to make sure there are no cracks in your windows or walls; stink bugs have small thin bodies, which they use to wiggle into small openings.
When asked, Madison Lawson an OHS Junior describes what she does to take care of stink bugs: “When I see a stink bug I run to the bathroom grab some toilet paper and flush it down. It’s like a mission.”
People can choose to take precautions or just deal with these critters. Either way it seems like stink bugs are here to stay for a very long time.
Info Citation:
Marchiando, Collin R. “Frequently Asked Questions.” : Monitoring for the Brown Marmorate… Rutgers, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.
