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Stink Bugs

Stink Bugs

Family Pentatomidae

Insectalso: Brown marmorated stink bug, BMSB

Shield-shaped bugs that pierce developing fruit and pods to suck sap, leaving dimples, hard spots, and discoloration. The invasive brown marmorated stink bug has made them a far bigger garden and orchard problem, and the same bugs become a nuisance indoors when they shelter for winter.

🔎 How to spot it

Stink bugs are flat, shield-shaped insects roughly half to three-quarters of an inch, in mottled gray-brown (the brown marmorated kind), green, or brown; crushed, they give off the rank odor that names them. The brown marmorated stink bug is told apart by alternating light and dark bands on its antennae and along the abdomen edge. Barrel-shaped egg clusters and rounder, often colorful nymphs appear on the leaves.

🥀 Damage it causes

Both adults and nymphs jab their needle-like mouthparts into fruit, pods, and shoots and suck sap, causing dimpled and deformed fruit, hard corky spots, cloudy or discolored blotches, and aborted seeds. Tomatoes, peppers, beans, sweet corn, and tree fruit such as apples and peaches are common targets, with the damage often showing up as the fruit ripens.

🛡️ Prevent it

Clean up weeds, leaf litter, and debris that shelter stink bugs, and seal cracks and screen vents on the house to keep the brown marmorated kind from overwintering indoors. Protect fruiting vegetables with row cover until they need pollination, and scout field edges and a trap crop, where the bugs often gather first, so you can act before they spread in.

🧯 If it is already here

Handpick adults and nymphs into soapy water and crush the barrel-shaped egg masses on leaf undersides. Pheromone traps help monitor and reduce numbers. Most broad-spectrum sprays give only short-lived control and harm beneficials, so focus on handpicking, exclusion, and removing the weedy hosts and overwintering shelter around the garden.

💡 Good to know

The brown marmorated stink bug, an invader that spread across the country since the late 1990s, is the one that turned stink bugs into a serious pest and a fall home invader; the banded antennae are the quick way to recognize it. Tiny native and introduced parasitic wasps that attack the eggs are slowly catching up and helping rein it in.

🌱 Plants it attacks

714 plants in the library can be attacked by this pest

Acorn SquashAdirondack Blue PotatoAdzuki BeanAfrican Blue BasilAfrican MarigoldAgapanthusAgeratumAgrimonyAji Amarillo Pepper🍓Albion StrawberryAlice du Pont Mandevilla🥔All Blue PotatoAlmondAloe VeraAmbrosia CornAmerican BasswoodAmerican Beauty Dragon FruitAmerican BeechAmerican PersimmonAmethyst Falls WisteriaAmish Paste TomatoAnaheim PepperAnemoneAngelique TulipAngeloniaAniseAnise HyssopAnjou PearAnnabelle Smooth HydrangeaAnnual VincaApeldoorn TulipApple MintApril Tryst CamelliaArbequina OliveArizona Sun Blanket FlowerArkin CarambolaArmenian CucumberAroniaArp RosemaryArugulaAshwagandhaAsian PearAsian PersimmonAtemoyaAtlantic Giant Pumpkin🥕Atomic Red CarrotAucubaAugust Beauty GardeniaAunt Molly's Ground CherryAutumn Joy SedumAvocadoBachelor's ButtonBalsam FirBalsam PoplarBanana PepperBarbara Karst BougainvilleaBartlett PearBay LaurelBayberryBeach PlumBeauregard Sweet PotatoBecky Shasta DaisyBee Balm🍅Beefmaster TomatoBenarys Giant ZinniaBengal Tiger CannaBetter Boy Tomato🥬Bibb Lettuce🍅Big Beef TomatoBig Boy TomatoBilberryBing CherryBitter MelonBlack BeanBlack Beauty EggplantBlack Beauty ZucchiniBlack Beluga LentilBlack Cherry TomatoBlack CrowberryBlack Currant🍉Black Diamond WatermelonBlack Kabouli ChickpeaBlack Krim TomatoBlack RaspberryBlack Sapote🥬Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce🥕Black Spanish RadishBlack Tartarian CherryBlack WalnutBlack-Eyed PeaBlack-eyed Susan VineBlood OrangeBloomsdale SpinachBlue Bird DelphiniumBlue Bird Rose of SharonBlue FescueBlue Lake Green BeanBluecrop BlueberryBocking 14 ComfreyBok Choy

For educational and informational purposes only. Pest control advice is general guidance drawn from university cooperative extension sources; always identify a pest positively and read and follow the label on any product before use, especially around food crops, children, and pets.