Stink bugs are everywhere right now, and you've probably seen them.
Many viewers reached out to Severe Weather Team 2 to find out why they seem much worse this year.
Severe Weather Team 2 meteorologist Katie Walls went to the experts for some answers.
Walls learned the nuisance pest problem started in Pennsylvania in the '90s but is quickly spreading south.
"The peak time, we should be approaching it now, so I’m going to warn people that it might get a little worse before it gets a little better," said Tim Husen, an entomologist with Orkin.
According to Husen, stink bugs go through five stages of life, and around now, they’re hitting their adult phase and looking for a spot to spend winter. The best thing you can do to keep them out is to never let them in.
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"The crepe myrtle here is overgrown, which would make it even easier for the brown marmorated stink bug to find a crack or crevice under the ceiling line to get into the home," he said. "If you have any loose gaps around light fixtures or ceiling fans or exhaust fans you know they’re crawling out of, seal those with a good caulk, and you should be good."
The brown marmorated stink bug gets its name for a very good reason. Whenever it feels threatened, it lets off a pungent, musty, chemical-like odor. Experts advise not squishing them but vacuuming them up.
"Vacuuming is the no. 1 tool for getting rid of these things. Your vacuum might start to smell like them after a while, but if you let that air out, the smell will dissipate," Husen said.
Stink bugs are an agricultural pest. While they might cause damage to a bush or tree producing fruit, they will not damage your home.
The experts said pesticides aren’t the way to treat this pest.
Husen said if you try to kill them by yourself, with a bug bomb, for example, you may attract other bugs who want to eat the remnants, creating a secondary problem.
If you have more than you can handle with a vacuum, call in the experts.
Cox Media Group
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