The Carolinas Are Now Experiencing A Massive Stink Bug Invasion

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Carolina residents are now being faced with a very smelly problem – a massive stinkbug infestation

The Carolinas have seen a dramatic increase in reported stinky bug numbers, likely due to warmer weather over the past few months.

“It has been warmer longer, so the population may have had more time to feed and reproduce,” Eric Benson, an entomologist at Clemson University commented.

Stink bugs will usually look for shelter underground when winter comes, but this year, the shorter days have prompted the creatures to seek shelter in people’s homes in advance of cooler temperatures.

“This is the time of year when these bugs start to look forward to shelter and move into people’s homes,” Benson noted. “While it’s not an issue when these insects aggregate in a ‘tree hole’…in your house, that’s another thing.”

He also noted that once the creatures get inside your home through gaps, cracks in windows, and under doors, they will alert other stink bugs via scent trails.

The creatures aren’t harmful to most people, but they have caused allergic reactions in those who are allergic to the strong odor, which the bugs will emit when threatened or killed.

Experts recommend sweeping up the little critters moving them far away from your house so as not to attract others with the odor.

The best way to prevent a stink bug infestation is to make sure all doors, windows, and floorboards are completely sealed with weather-tight silicone caulk.

Another defense homeowners can use against the little stinkers is to spray around their property with a diluted pyrethrin solution, which will repel stink bugs, cockroaches, and other beetles without harming other plants or animals.

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