For many of us who are lucky and have not experienced a stink bug infestation in East Dennis, we cannot imagine what it is like for our house to be infested with these stinky bugs until one day this happen to us.
With the increasing presence of the brown marmorated stink bugs (reported in 33 states in the United States this year), chances are you may have these bugs attacking your home. This is in comparison with only 8 states reporting not to have stink bugs last year.
Some Stink Bug History In Massachusetts
The brown marmorated stink bugs are not native to the United States and hence do not have many natural predators. They were accidentally shipped through cargos to Pennsylvania in the 90s. These bugs were originally from countries like Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
You may feel powerless as your lovely house is infested with these bugs. Well, this is made worst with the limited number of choices to deal with these insects. Your local exterminator will not guarantee that they will keep these bugs away and they are right. In some cases, these bugs will return to the house just a few hours after the exterminator carried his work.
To make sure that your house is not infested with these bugs, prevention is still the best answer. If you can prevent these bugs from coming into your house, then you will not have to worry about your house being attacked by stink bugs in Massachusetts.
Stink bugs are attracted by light and heat. If you can reduce the number of lights you switch on at night, then you will reduce the number of these bugs being attracted to your house. If for security purpose, you need to switch on the light outside your house, be sure that the windows and door near this light is well sealed without any gap.
East Dennis Stink Bug Control
You also need to prepare some soap water or alcohol to kill these bugs in this morning. The best time to kill these bugs is in the morning as they tend to move slower. Just spray and let these insects die by themselves. You are not advised to crush them as this will emit a foul stinky smell which will act as a beacon to attract the same species here. Do keep this in mind as that is what most people will do whenever they see a stink bug.
These insects will look for shelter during the winter to hibernate. They will then become active again in spring till late autumn. Your home which is nicely warm with heater will be very attractive to these bugs. Once they find their way to your house, they will find a secret place to hide and hibernate and you may not even notice they are there. Come spring and you have a rude surprise to see these bugs all over your house.
To keep these insects from entering your house, you need to make sure all small gaps and openings outside your house is sealed with a good quality silicone caulk. These will keep the bugs away from your house. The best time to do this is in late autumn, before the winter sets in. Walk around your house and seal any gaps or openings that you see.
Dealing with a stink bug infestation takes time and work. If you have the financial means, hire someone to seal all the gaps and openings outside your house. This is by far the best way to keep stink bugs away from your house.
Dealing With A Stink Bug Infestation in East Dennis
We can talk about a real infestation problem when a big population of Stink Bugs invades your garden or home. Normally you will see them here and there during the spring and summer, but when you notice the whole army marching on your territory, then you should know you got yourself in trouble.
Stink Bug Infestation? In Massachusetts Call:
1-(844) 597-0370
Here are some facts you should know about the infestation in order to fight it with success:
1. The favorite food of the stink bugs are really juicy fruits and plants which they can suck juices from. Examples are tomatoes, apples, cucumbers or could be even some types of grass.
2. The place where the insect sucked juice will become yellowish or brown turning it into a bad for consumption product.
3. Pesticides are one of the most common ways to fight an infestation on your plants.
4. Pesticides will kill not only Shield Bugs, but also some insects which are beneficial to the fruits and vegetables, so be careful.
5. There are many “do-it-yourself” non-toxic solutions for pest control, but be wise – most of them are not proven to work and some of them sound unreasonable (like spraying them with hot sauce)
6. Natural predators are considered a good way for a Shield Bug population control. Finding a predator feeding on stink bugs though is a hard task (due to the fact that Stink Bugs smell) and most of them are also considered agricultural pest.
7. Your house is also not insured against infestation. More and more households are complaining of the raising numbers of the insects coming inside their homes and making a good living place out of it.
8. The reason for them coming inside are:
- There is a garden or farm nearby
- You have brought them in by working in your garden and not inspecting your clothes carefully
- You have cracks on your home which you did not seal
- You have left the windows open during the night with lights on which attracted them
- They are coming because they are looking for a warm place to hide from the worsening weather conditions outside
9. Once your home is infested it will not be easy to find the Stink Bugs. They are looking for isolated and dark places to hide.
10. During the autumn they will hibernate until the weather outside is cold enough that you start warming up your house. Then you will start seeing the smelly bugs coming out – so don’t be surprised that it’s winter and you have them, because they came in before the winter.
11. The reproduction rate of the Shield Bugs is very high, so take measures as soon as you see just a few of them. Do not wait until you start seeing armies.
12. Their protective odor is produced by a toxin containing fluid. This smell is actually attracting more bugs to come inside.
13. It takes four to eight months for the smell to go away by itself.
14. Kill the old ones and clean wherever you may find eggs in order to stop the reproduction.
15. Be prepared for a hard fight, but know that there ARE ways to get rid of them completely and permanently.
Stink Bug Control – Exterminators in East Dennis
There is nothing worse than to have your home invaded by bugs. The vast majority of people on this planet will attest to the fact that there is absolutely nothing pleasant about it. And that goes double, nay triple, for stink bugs! Whether you are easily freaked out by bugs and are an absolute entomophobe, or you just find them to be annoying at best, you no doubt are looking for a way how to get of stink bugs in the house.
The Challenge Of Dealing With Stink Bugs
Obviously dealing with the problem of stink bugs poses its own set of uniquely complex set of challenges that vary greatly from how you might deal with the problem of, let’s say ants, roaches, or termites.
For one thing, these bugs are a tad bit bigger than other bugs. Adult stink bugs can grow to be as long as one whole inch in length, which is pretty large and unsightly for a bug. (Ants are more inconspicuous, measuring no more than half an inch even when fully grown.)
Secondly, they feed on fruits and vegetables exclusively, which sets them apart from other insects, such as ants which will eat a whole variety of other foods.
Thirdly, they seek out heat and light, as opposed to darkness.
Furthermore, they do not have any natural predators in the wild.
Fifth, they emit what is known as an aggregation pheromone, which is their way of calling out to other stink bugs and saying, “Hey everybody! Look where I am? Why don’t you come and join me too?”
And finally, these bugs are well known for emitting a foul stench when threatened or attacked, in much the same way that skunks do.
Giving Stink Bugs An Eviction Notice in East Dennis
OK, so if you have discovered one or more stink bugs in your home, the question arises as to what is the most effective way how to get rid of them. Obviously, if you have tried squashing them with a shoe, you have probably figured out that is by far not the best way to kill them, as they will leave a foul stench and bloody marks on the surface of whatever you killed them on.
And if you have given any thought to the use of pesticides, that is something that you should really only consider as a last resort.
So if squashing them and using pesticides to kill them are both not exactly the most ideal of solutions, then what are some alternative ways to deal with the problem and get them out of your house once and for all?
Here are a couple of general suggestions:
- Use what you know about stink bugs against them. Knowledge is power. The more your understand about what makes these bugs tick, the easier it will be for you stay one step ahead of these critters and come up with a plan of action to extradite them (or exterminate them) from your home once and for all.
- Research ways how to set up stink bug traps within your home. This way you can lure them toward one receptacle where they can become entrapped and suffocated, drowned, poisoned, or starved to death. Or you can take the entrapping receptacle and dump the bugs outside if you don’t have the heart and the wherewithal to actually kill them. Stink bugs are attracted to four things: light, heat, fruit, and the aggregation hormones emanated by other members of the same species. You can use any combination of one or more of these as your bait to lure them into a trap that either kills them or merely traps them.
Preventing Stink Bugs From Entering Your East Dennis Home
It’s one thing to have to deal with a stink bug infestation within your house. But sadly that is just a mere half of the battle. When it comes to battling stink bugs, you have to confront them by waging a war on not one, but two fronts.
One is to fight the bugs that are already within your house. And the other front is to fend off a fresh invasion of new bugs that are trying to come in from outside your house.
Here are a couple of tips on how to safeguard your home against an invasion of stink bugs:
- Seal off any cracks in the doors or windows to your house. Install a protective insect-proof guard over all vents leading into or out of your house.
- Keep your blinds shut at night so as not to attract any new stink bugs flying by which might be looking for a source of heat and light where they can seek shelter.
- Use a bug light zapper near your home. This particular species of bugs is very likely to fly directly toward it and then get zapped and die.
These lists above are by no means exhaustive. But it will give you an idea as to what you need to focus on. Please refer to the links in the above paragraphs within this section for more detailed tips and tricks on how to combat the stink bug problem both externally and from within.
Massachusetts Stink Bugs Make Poor Roommates
If you are faced with a situation where your home has been overrun by these bugs, you can take some solace in the fact that they are not in any way particularly harmful to humans. They don’t generally bite or sting.
They happen to have an appendage through which they are able to pierce through the skin of fruits and vegetables and suck the juice out of them, but this appendage is not used for attacking other animals and people. They are just creepy and annoying at best.
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See our Stink Bug Damage video.
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