Reports From Our Nationwide Survey About Stink Bugs, Part 1

Reader Contribution by Barbara Pleasant
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In October 2013, MOTHER EARTH NEWS launched the Stink Bug Survey as a citizen science project to gather information about the spread and behavior of the brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys). A smelly invasive insect from northern Korea and Japan that was first seen in eastern Pennsylvania in 1998, the brown marmorated stink bug has now been identified in 35 states. These home and garden pests survive winter in houses, buildings and bark crevices in trees. When populations become high, they can devastate many vegetables, fruits and flowers.

Where Are the Stink Bugs Now?

The good news is that survey respondents in the far South, Southwest and far North of the United States are not seeing these distinctive stink bugs with light bands on their antennae in their houses or gardens. Hundreds of respondents from Georgia to Arizona reported that they have never seen brown marmorated stink bugs crawling on window screens, an extremely common sight in the mid-Atlantic states, where stink bug infestations are most severe.

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