Stink Bug Season: 10 Ways to Keep Smelly Pests Out of Your House

COLLEGE PARK, MD — Gear up folks, this is the time to keep stink bugs out of your house. Stink bugs – given the apt nickname because of the musty scent they emit when frightened or squashed by people – are very active in the fall as they try to worm their way into your house.

This is the time to do some easy chores around the house to keep them outside, say experts. While stink bugs don't bite or eat anything inside the home, they are a nuisance. If they find their way indoors, the pests will head toward the attic and nest in old newspapers or clothes, then emerge in the spring.

You’ve probably seen stink bugs crawling on your screens or fluttering around your house’s windows. You can’t crush them, because they expel that nasty smell as a defense.

To prevent another battle with the bugs in the spring, you should remove your window air-conditioner as soon as the heat is over, seal cracks around windows and doors (also a good step to prevent winter drafts), and repair broken screens and windows.

Use a high-quality silicone or silicone-latex caulk this fall to seal all cracks around windows, doors, siding, utility pipes, behind chimneys and underneath the wood fascia and other openings, says USA Today.

The Chinese praying mantis, which loves to dine on stink bug eggs, is slowly obliterating the region’s population of invasive stink bugs, Dr. Michael Raupp, a University of Maryland entomologist known as The Bug Guy, said in the spring.

“I think our indigenous good guys here have put the beat down on stink bugs, and I think homeowners and gardeners will enjoy better vegetables and fewer stink bug problems in their gardens this year,” Raupp told WTOP.

Stink bugs, which have a brown, shield-like body, were first discovered in Allentown, PA in 2001, according to a University of Maryland entomology bulletin. They feed on fruit trees, ornamental plants, vegetables and legumes, and are common throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, especially in the fall, according to experts.

Here are ten ways to get rid of stink bugs:

1. Use a vacuum cleaner to suck up the bugs.
2. Cut the top of a half gallon or gallon jug, fill it with soapy water and use a piece of cardboard or a napkin to whisk the bugs into the water, which will drown them.
3. Seal up cracks around windows and doors with caulk or weather stripping. - UMD Home and Garden Information Center.
4. Take out window-unit air conditioners; stink bugs can easily get through these. - UMD HGIC.
5. Plant or move fruit trees and vegetable gardens, especially tomato plants, away from your home to prevent stink bugs from landing on the exterior of your home. -UMD HGIC.
6. Squish stink bugs outdoors--the odor warns other stink bugs to flee. - Bayer Advanced insect control.
7. Hang a stink bug trap outside your house to catch them. - UMD Bug Guy, Mike Raupp, YouTube.
8. Hang a damp towel outside your home overnight. In the morning, stink bugs will blanket the towel, and you can use a vacuum or knock them into a jug of soapy water to kill them. - Bayer Advanced
9. Although most insecticides are ineffective against stink bugs, some do work, but the bug must be clearly on the label. Insecticides are never to be used indoors - UMD HGIC
10. Check your attic for holes or gaps and close them up. Stinkbugs often enter through attics - Mike Raupp, UMD Bug Guy.

»PHOTO: Stink bugs are being wiped out by the praying mantis, says a University of Maryland professor. Patch file photo