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Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Stink Bug Hitchhikers go the Distance


Do you know this guy?



We sure do. He and his buddies have been traveling with us for six months, 
since we picked them up in  Pennsylvania. 



Stink bugs are an Asian invasive species that are now common in some areas of the United States. We had never seen one before. In Pennsylvania they were everywhere and we noticed a few had gotten into the RV.

Well obviously more than a few got it.  Almost every day since then, during the warmest time of the day, 3-4 bugs emerge from wherever they've been hiding and we find them on the windows usually, as if they'd like to get out. We DON'T let them out (we don't want to contribute to their spread) and we DON'T squish them. (Where do you think the name STINK comes from?) Here's how we dispose of them:

We take a wad of toilet paper and gently pick the bug up in it and flush it down the toilet. You don't want to injure or make them uncomfortable, or they release their stink. It smells like cilantro, which is not a terrible smell, but you don't want it in your house all the time. Some people really hate the smell.

We've cleaned out every cupboard and closet, so we assume they are hiding in the walls and window frames where we can't get to them. The question is, why only 3-4 a day? Ladybugs all seem to emerge en masse on the warmest day of the season, but these guys seem to have a community quota, or assigned numbers that let them out only 3-4 at a time on a given day.

Have others had these unwanted travelers behave the same way? How long does it go on? Will we have them for generations to come?

2 comments:

  1. I have some bad news for you. Those things have been here in Oregon forever. They're all over the place. I live in my motorhome south of Eugene and we're having a huge attack of 4 sizes of ants. Huge ones, a little less huge ones, and regular ones and wee wee tiny ones I've never seen before.

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  2. Uh oh. I was just thinking that we finally got rid of them. Haven't seen any for weeks. I hope we don't pick up some more in Eugene. We're heading that way soon. Oh well. Too bad about all those ants!

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