Stink bug invasion not like Beatlemania
Dr. Yong-Lak Park works with a mesh container filled with stink bugs at West Virginia University. He said the bugs threaten agricultural crops across the country.
Miles Layton
Brian Steinmiller, a biology professor at Waynesburg University, intently studies slides of stink bugs before he places one of the creatures underneath a microscope.
Associated Press
Experts debate whether the recent cold spell will have any effect on insect populations, such as this stink bug.
Stink bug
MORGANTOWN — To paraphrase Britain’s wartime prime minister Winston Churchill, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender!
And that’s the strength of will it’s going to take to defeat these pests, who make a plague of locusts look tame by comparison.
Experts suspect that the first brown marmorated stink bug probably hitchhiked its way from Asia in container ships. It was first detected in this country in Allentown in 1996.
“What we are trying to do is find out why we have a problem here and why they don’t have a problem there,” said West Virginia University biology professor Yong-Lak Park at his lab within the school’s Agricultural Sciences building.
Invasive species
The stink bug has no natural enemies in the United States, so the population has grown quickly. Park said they’ve been in the in the area since 2005.
“They are so good at reproducing,” he said. “There’s so many — that’s the problem. It’s a numbers game.”
The insect has been found in 33 states to become a major pest of fruit orchards, field crops, vegetables and ornamentals in the Mid-Atlantic region. The stink bug has caused considerable crop damage to fruit orchards and organic vegetable farms in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle.
Unless scientists can find the stink bugs’ weakness soon, their invasion will destroy billions of dollars of crops in the years ahead.
“If we don’t do something, maybe these bugs can harm crops across the country,” Park said. “This is serious. These bugs can do billions of dollars in damage.”
The state Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania asked Park to develop a biological control for the invader that could effectively fend off the destruction of crops without forcing growers to resort to chemical pesticides. Park said so far, pesticides do not work very well.
“A lot of people are trying to find out what pesticide works best,” he said. “At the same time, a lot of researchers are working on how to bolster the bugs’ natural enemies.”
Many people are familiar with the bugs because they move indoors during the winter to escape the cold.
Brian Steinmiller, a biology professor at Waynesburg University, said to truly appreciate the sci-fi wonder, people should see these creatures underneath a microscope. A stink bug uses a somewhat sharp piercing-sucking mouth part to stab vegetables and suck out the juices like a vampire.
To add insult to injury, the bugs can transmit potentially lethal diseases between plants to further wipe out crops, he said.
Taking the bugs down
Agricultural warfare aside, how do we fight — house to house, street to street — to defeat these insects?
Steinmiller said if someone picks up a stink bug, maybe agitates it, the pest will emit a powerful stinky odor. To make matters worse, he said, this odor attracts more stink bugs.
“If you smush them in your house, all you are doing is sending a beacon to others who can sense that smell and are within range to come closer,” he said.
Also note, the lighter color a person’s house, the more stink bugs want to live there, Steinmiller said.
“From what I’ve read, this seems to apply not only to stink bugs but to other insects as well,” he said. “Color is important to some insects.”
But if you pick up a stink bug and handle it gently enough so as not to cause alarm, it is easier to squash and less stinky, Steinmiller said.
Park added, “If you handle it gently, they never make a stink.”
Steinmiller said aside from the smell, the bugs can bite but not very hard.
“The bugs don’t bite very often and if they do, the bite feels more like a pinch,” he said.
For those pacifists not so inclined to violence or the desire to dirty their hands, there is another way to rid your homes of these pests that is perfectly safe. Simply pick up the bug, drop it in the toilet and flush away so that the pests can sleep with the fishes — sort of a Sicilian message that’s easier than having to apply concrete galoshes to the bug’s six feet.
Steinmiller said this method is reasonably foolproof, but the bugs wouldn’t necessarily drown because they breathe through spiracles — holes in their underbelly.
But there is another way for those so inclined to speed up the bug’s death spiral before flushing the toilet. Steinmiller said to use a squirt bottle to spray the bugs with a blend of dish detergent and water so they will drown.
While not everyone has the stomach needed for executing insect invaders, there is another method to get Medieval with these bugs.
Deploy the house’s natural assassins — dogs and cats. Park said it is perfectly safe for these animals to attack, kill and perhaps eat the stink bugs.
“Some animals can eat stink bugs without any problem,” he said.
But aside from canine hit squads or using the methods employed by mafia crime families, scientists are working on pheromones and importing natural predators. Park said pheromones are being developed, but they are far from ready for household use. And if you can find them, a stink bug’s natural predator — soldier bugs — are a dollar a piece.
Park said though soldier bugs don’t display an appetite for adult stink bugs, they do eat stink bug eggs, which could effectively curb the population.
Park said in Asia, there is a tiny wasp that lays eggs in the stink bugs’ egg piles which then consume future legions of these pests. Park said the U.S. Department of Agriculture is holding up permits needed to allow these natural predators in the country.
Old Man Winter is not necessarily that effective against stink bugs. Steinmiller said cold can kill the bugs, perhaps subzero temperatures, but in many cases, the bugs are smart enough to have found shelter.
He said the bugs, like many insects, need to stay at that temperature for extended periods of time in order to have any effect.
“Even with the cold, most people won’t see a noticeable decrease in the insect population,” he said.
Park said to prevent stink bug infestations, people are advised to seal up cracks and crevices where the bugs tend to live during the winter.
The best offense is a good defense.
“Prevention is best — once they come, catch them,” Park said.