Hate them. They're ugly, they're invasive, they stink when you squish them (or just whenever because they're jerks), they destroy crops, they have no known predators in the U.S., and this time of year all they want to do is get into your house. If you frighten them or squash them, they release a nasty odor, which actually attracts more stink bugs. They can live for years, and can breed multiple generations per year.

They're always hanging around my pepper plants and fig trees. I kill maybe 10 a day outside and two or three inside, and there are always more.  I'm thinking that they might be a vector for FMV. They're "true bugs" with sucking mouth parts. According to Penn State's agricultural extension website, they prey on figs.

Here's some info for those of you lucky enough not to know what they are:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/us/27stinkbug.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=homepage

http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/brown-marmorated-stink-bug

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bug

Wow! They sound like a real pain! I thought I had it bad, but they sound as bad or worse than any of the fruit-eating pests in my neighborhood.

We have native stink bugs up here, too, but they really aren't a nuisance. These new stink bugs are awful, though. I saw a few the past couple summers, but this year they are everywhere. I went out on my deck last night with my laptop, and the glow of the screen attracted so many I had to go inside. I think citronella attracts them, too. Supposedly there's some parasitic wasp that keeps them in check in Japan. The government might introduce the wasp here, but it could take years for them to run the tests that would permit that.

In the meantime, fire ants don't sound so bad. At least most of them can't fly.

Just saw a report said they are suppose to be 10x worse this year.

They're a nuisance but are they that invasive to attack figs?

If that's the case I may be in trouble!

They are awful. They over-winter in exterior walls and wake up as the temps rise and move inside rather than outside because it is warmer. Sealing up the exterior of your house is the only way to keep them out. We used to have elder beetles here but the stinkbugs evicted them.
I know a guy living in a real old house in the sticks and he has been at war with them since January. He was burning them with torch but he said that he got sick from the fumes and had vertigo for 2 days. The other day one crawled into his bowl of potato salad and turned his mouth numb. He doesn't have nearly as many as the photo in the NY Times, that looks real bad.
Maybe the hot summer last year increased their numbers. I did notice lot's of that damage on local apples this past fall, had to sieve it out of the apple sauce.

My wife thinks we have it bad! Compared to stories like that and some from others, she has no idea how good we have it.

Hi Dominick.  Humans have been growing and enjoying figs for thousands of years.  The stinkiest Stink Bug in the world isn't going to change that.  Enjoy your figs my friend.

And Matt, the Red/Green Unknown cuttings rooted and leafed out nicely.  Thank you.  Hope you are well my friend.

John
North Georgia Piedmont
Zone 7b

P.S. Dominick.  The rooting in water thing is working great for us.  And the kids really enjoy being able to see what is happening with their fig cuttings.

I could have sworn i seen that bug in my yard last season around my veggies when i was pulling weeds.
It caught my attention because i never seen it before and it had that prehistoric look to it.
I should have taken a picture, maybe if i see another i will .
But last season we had a abundance of lady bugs flying all around and they were pesky because of there increased numbers.
Seems like each season there are a lot of one type then it changes the following year for us here to another type.

Yeah they had a report on Boston TV showing how bad last year it was for local tomato crops.

Then there was one on my counter 2 days ago!

Hey John thanks for the kind words but really I got the idea from others here about using water.

I have a few year and two year-old trees that came out of dormancy early in the kitchen. I find a stink bug every couple of days on one of the trees. I really, really hate those things.

John-Glad to hear you got the cuttings to root. I hope they do well for you this year. The unknown yellow cuttings you sent me rooted and leafed out nicely. One shot up a foot in a matter of a couple weeks. Definitely a top prospect for 2011.

Last fall, I opened up my deck umbrella to air it out before winter-storing it

I read in one of those articles that they respond to pheromone traps when young, or only in the fall when mature. Milky spore and phorid flies are supposed to be working well on japanese beetles and fire ants so let's hope to see those wasps soon.
Dominick, that looks like one of our natives stinkers, forgot what they looked like actually. The new one from China is "marmorated" with banded antennae and white spots.

Anyone tried kaolin clay/water spray (Surround) to help control them on plants ?

Worked effectively for controlling cucumber beetles for us when we grew acres of veggies for sale.

The Brown ones are what we get up here but there are a few others.

I had a ton of the new invasive ones lAst year homing up in my grill tarp.....

I didn't know what those things were.  I saw one last October
on my door frame.  I took a picture of it.  Hadn't seen another
since, but DBF said he found a dead one the other day when
he was moving some furniture.  Apparently they also serve as
cat toys.

What does DBF stand for.......???

Thanks