ALONG WITH OTHER HIBERNATORS, STINK BUGS EMERGE

The emergence of another hibernator — the brown marmorated stink bug — has been more annoying than usual at my house this spring. The numbers of this very unwelcome guest were much higher than I thought from the bugs I saw come in last fall, and far exceeds numbers in previous years. I can only imagine where they’ve been hiding. I wouldn’t mind the stink bugs so much if they didn’t poop everywhere in the house.

It doesn’t help that the there’s a ton of ailanthus, a host plant from their native country, near the house. The stink bugs usually go to ailanthus when they first emerge, then on to other plants as they flower and bear fruit. I’m trying to nip that in the bud, so to speak, by firing up my small but powerful vacuum. I’d purchased this expensive vacuum when I moved to a house in Rappahannock that was infested with Asian multicolored lady beetles. Where I am now, lady bugs are few but stink bugs abound, and the vacuum works just as well on the latter.

I’ve also found that low ceilings make catching the bugs easier. I’ve collected quite a few by just holding up a large jar with soapy water in it under the bugs, which generally try to escape by flying down off the ceiling — which in this case launches them into the water. If they don’t take off into the jar, I just put the jar up over them, and slide it until the bugs do fly or drop into the trap.

On the upside from what I saw myself and heard anecdotally last year, more and more of our local predators, from native wildlife to chickens, are warming up to the bug, so we can only hope that things will balance out . . . eventually.