Stink Bugs! Ughhhh!!!!!!

[soocool]

Ok so while I am sitting here while waiting for a delivery, I just flushed my third stinkbug down the toilet. First one was when DD screamed at 6 am (mind you DH and I were sound asleep). The stinkbug was on her mirror (so what is she going to do in college if her roommate does not kill bugs?)


Does anyone know of a natural replellent? even the dog won't go near one. And I heard never vacuum them up or you will throwing out that vac!

 

[kateydid05]

Ugh i hate stink bugs!!! I either vacuum them up (never had any issues) or I grab a tissue and pick them up (not squish) and then flush them down the toilet. A friend of mine recommended that at a home store (like Home Depot, Lowes) has a repellent that you plug in and it naturally repells them. I haven't gotten it yet though.

They are so disgusting. I'm getting grossed out just thinking about them.

 

[missy]

ugh, never heard of stink bugs and I am *not* going to google what they look like or what they do (though I can imagine!) because I do not want nightmares! I feel for your DD. In college I always had to get someone to kill any bugs in my dorm room and while I have definitely improved since then I still really hate bugs...a lot (or should I say alot )

 

[kelpie]

Count yourself lucky if you're only finding three. My house in WV has thousands. It was like night of the living dead. I moved to Africa and they're even here though since it's warm they aren't invading houses.

They are attracted to light so I would keep the light on in the attic and lights off downstairs while not using them. I spent a lot of effort sealing off crevices in the house. 90+% isopropol alcohol in a spray bottle kills them then I vacuum them up with a dust buster. It makes life more bearable but they are still everywhere.

 

[marcy]

I hate bugs and do scream like a little girl when I find them. Miller moth are the worst!

 

[cellentani]

I was at a rest stop in NJ last year, and there were swarms of them flying through the air, landing on people's backs, hair, cars, everything! They like to lay eggs underneath my basil leaves, and the just-hatched ones look really weird. Sorry, no help in getting rid of them.

 

[Farleysmom]

This works for spiders but I'm not sure if it'll work on stink bugs. Put a few drops of citronella oil in a spray bottle of water. Spray walls, etc. Spiders will not walk on any area sprayed with the oil/water solution. Might be worth a try!

 

[soocool]

Funny thing is that I have never seen a stinkbug outside.

What I really can't stand are those Japanese beetles that come out in late June/early July. They really gross me out, not to mention devour the leaves of many pf my plants. Add to that these huge hornets. They scare me to death too. Great now I will have nightmares about bugs all night.

 

[mary poppins]

I've seen a couple of stink bugs outside, but luckily have never smelled them.

I just read this article and thought I would post it here. I haven't tried the product so can't attest to whether it works. Seems to get good reviews, though.


Stink bug traps lure buyers and bugs
Saturday, April 16, 2011
By Doug Oster, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Strube Stink Bug Trap hangs in a small bathroom in Doug Oster's Ross home. The first night the trap caught 10 bugs.When 36-year-old Andy Strube lost his job and had to sell his house, he never could have imagined it was a good thing. He used his equity to rent a house for himself and his three children in Columbia, Lancaster County.

He found out quickly the place was crawling with thousands of stink bugs.

"The house was so infested we had entomologists from Penn State University taking bags of stink bugs out to analyze," he said.

He couldn't sit down to dinner without the bugs landing on his plate, and at night they would drop on his face while he was trying to sleep.

The pests actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Mr. Strube. When he couldn't find an effective control, he decided to invent something. He tested all sorts of different ways in his home, starting by trying to get the bugs to crawl onto a sticky substance. Through trial and error he realized the secret was to get the stink bug to take flight and land on the trap. He hung a coffee can covered in glue next to a lamp and that's when he realized they were drawn to light.

He began to refine the idea and, using skills from his former job in aircraft maintenance, he designed and built different traps. Each version caught more bugs.

Mr. Strube continued to study the insects, keeping a colony in an aquarium and researching things that attracted them. He discovered they couldn't resist a cocktail he created of peppers and squash and put the mixture in an interchangeable cartridge inside the trap. When the fluorescent light heats up the cartridge, it releases the odor which humans can barely smell, but the bugs long for.

Friends who visited the house saw the traps and asked for one. As they reported back their successes, a business was born.

The Strube Stink Bug Trap is $50; a replacement cartridge is $20. Each cartridge will last about a month and is meant to catch hundreds of stink bugs. The traps are being sold at hardware stores near his home and can be found online. Since he began offering them online, he's sold hundreds that have caught tens of thousands of bugs, he says. Mr. Strube adds that a good portion of his business comes from the Pittsburgh area.

After I wrote about his invention, he sent me one to test on my minimal stink bug problem. I only see one or two a week. Inside the package was a flier warning that the glue is extremely sticky. I found that to be very true as I managed to get some cardboard, the power cord and the rope that hangs the trap stuck in it.

I installed it in an upstairs bathroom, where I know many of the bugs enter the house. I caught 10 bugs the first night, and the trap continues to lure the insects. The company's Facebook page is filled with photos of traps littered with dead stink bugs.

But not everyone has been as lucky. Since I first wrote about the traps, I've heard from three people who have not had success. Mr. Strube has also talked to a couple.

He offers some tips to get the most out of the trap. The warmer the area, the more active the bugs will be, he said. That means upper floors and attics, where heat collects are most conducive to catching stink bugs. Leaving the trap in one place and letting it run all night are essential to catching stink bugs. Turn off any other lights in the room. The trap needs to be the primary light source.

Mr. Strube has been swamped with orders. His family and friends are helping him keep up, but he's sleeping just a couple of hours a night between shifts building traps. He's hoping to strike a deal with a bigger company soon to increase production. He's also working on setting up summer trials outdoors to improve the trap's efficiency in the field, and he hopes his trap will help farmers and gardeners this season.

Moving into a house infested with stink bugs might not be everyone's idea of a good thing, but for Mr. Strube and his family it's turned his life around.

"This has been a godsend to us," he said. "It's unimaginable. It's just so awesome to be able to help people. It's a feeling I really can't explain."

For information about the Strube Stink Bug Trap: www.stinkbugtrapsonline.com or 1-717-449-3015.



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