Unwelcome return: Stink bugs back in area homes

By Julia Felton

Trib Total Media

Well, this stinks.

Stink bugs are showing up in homes across Western Pennsylvania. With fall and winter approaching, they’re becoming more prevalent as they seek shelter in homes and buildings.

“I would say anecdotally speaking, there was an increase in stink bugs from last summer. Stink bugs tend to have better populations when you have a long dry summer,” Camila Rivera-Tinsley, director of education at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, said. “When the season is extended, they’re able to get in one more generation, so their population will naturally rise.”

Several types of stink bugs can be found in Pennsylvania. The species most people know is the invasive brown marmorated stink bug or BMSB. That’s the kind of stink bug sneaking into homes during the fall months, according to Michael Skvarla, assistant research professor of arthropod identification at Pennsylvania State University.

Stink bugs are relatively new to the area, Rivera-Tinsley noted. They arrived in Pennsylvania in the 1990s.

These bugs are best known for the unpleasant — but harmless — odor they can emit.

“It’s a defense mechanism,” Rivera-Tinsley said. “When they’re scared or something’s trying to eat them, they’re going to release that scent. A bird or some other creature is not going to like that taste or smell.”

Though their pungent odor can be a nuisance, Rivera-Tinsley said these bugs pose no threat to people or pets. They don’t bite or sting and they don’t carry diseases that can spread to humans.

But Skvarla said they can pose certain problems.

The invasive, shield-shaped insects can cause crop damage, Skvarla explained, citing a study that reported stink bugs caused $37 million in losses to tree fruit producers in the mid-Atlantic in 2010.

“Besides economic damage to commercial crops, BMSB damage fruits and vegetables in home gardens and invade houses and other buildings in the fall when they search for protected places to overwinter,” he said.

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