Stink bugs arrived from Asia about a decade ago, the brown marmorated stink bug is a nuisance to home owners and businesses— an ugly, shield-shaped insect that oozes a pungent chemical stench when threatened (or crushed). The biggest concern is that the bugs invade homes in the fall, seeking warm places to spend the winter. It’s a huge problem and experts say it may be worse than ever this year because stink bug populations have exploded in many areas. They are about 5/8ths of an inch long and get their name from their marbled shell (marmorated means marbled). Allentown has the unhappy distinction of being the first place in America where stink bugs — native to China, Japan and South Korea — were identified, in 2001. Like other non-native species — emerald ash borers, Asian long-horned beetles — they probably arrived in shipping containers and spread until their numbers grew large enough to be noticed.

The insect is widespread in New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and Virginia. Smaller populations have been detected in Mississippi, Ohio, Oregon, and California. These bugs have nothing better to do than hang on the side of your house looking for a place to get in, and they'll find somewhere to get in. Stink bugs enter houses far earlier in the season than other bugs, such as elder beetles and ladybugs, that seek to spend winter indoors. What makes them different is that most overwintering insects don't come in until about Halloween time, then vacate very early in the spring, around April. Stink bugs are different. What they do is come into homes at the end of August, beginning of September. They enter a good two months earlier than the other bugs and don't leave until mid to late June. The trick is knowing when to treat for them. If you've waited until late in September, or October, it's too late. The time to address it is in the first couple weeks of September. After mid-September results are less effective. Like other relatively new pests, the bugs thrive because the predators that keep them in check in their native habitats don't live here.