Do Stink Bugs Bite or Harm Humans and Pets?

Misconceptions About Stink Bugs

If there’s any silver lining to the dark cloud they bring to your home, they don’t bite you or your pets. Another thing that’s good to know is that they don’t spread disease either. These pests are only interested in your plants and fruits, as they’re herbivores.

While this might save your skin, it can be costly when you consider they can chew their way through expensive gardens and household plants. This bug often feels threatened when you’re handling it or are in too close of proximity. However, even in these circumstances, they won’t bite.

There are no reports of the brown marmorated stink bug biting man or beast, so you can breathe a sigh of relief. Some folks confuse the stink bug with the bed bug, but if you put the two critters side by side, you will they are vastly different.

The stink bug is massive in size, while the bedbug tends to be much smaller. The bed bug is reddish-brown, and the stink bug is dark brown or tan. The kissing bug is another bug that’s often confused with this insect, but people don’t usually encounter it as they prefer to stay out of sight.

Common Species

North America is home to at least 200 species of stink bugs. If you live in the Garden State, you can encounter as many as 20 varieties. Most stink bugs are easy to identify at a distance.

Just look for flat bugs about three-fourths of an inch, with triangular plates on their backs, which resemble Roman shields. They might be gray or mottled brown with bright spots or stripes. Are those smelly stink bugs flying around in your house or another pest?

Your nose may know before your eyes do. Here are some common species you may encounter in your backyard or home.

1. Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

The brown marmorated is the most abundant stink bug species in New Jersey and the rest of the country. Its colorful abdomen is shades of orange and red with black striped dots, giving it a marbling effect.

2. Southern Green Stink Bug

This variety is the second most common species people see buzzing around them. Southern green stink bugs are easily recognized by their deep leaf-green hue speckled with white and green spots. Rusty red bands outline their abdomen, and they blend into their environment perfectly.

3. Brown Stink Bug

Brown varieties don’t have assorted abdomen colors, and you’re less likely to encounter them like the previous two species. While brown stink bugs have rounder bodies, dusky stink bugs have pointed shoulders and are shield-shaped.

4. Consperse Stink Bug

Occasionally you may come across one of these nasty bugs that resemble common brown stink bugs. If they have more prominent black spots on their legs, they are of the consperse variety.

5. Rice Stink Bug

Some stink bug species are more prevalent in the wooded areas of the Southern states. However, they are also content to live in such rural locations in the Garden State. They have a dull, straw-like hue and can cause significant crop and foliage damage.

6. Harlequin Stink Bug

Don’t let the mesmerizing colors of this smelly species fool you because they’re a significant agricultural pest in America. They have brilliant orange, black, and red patterns on their bodies, and they have a classic shield shape.

7. Painted Stink Bug

Painted stink bugs are smaller than harlequins, but they have many of the same color combinations. Most of this variety also has lighter shades of orange around their body.

8. Red-Banded Stink Bugs

Red-banded stink bugs are native to the Caribbean islands and South America and have recently invaded North America. Their bodies are sage green with a tell-tale red band across their thorax. These pets are particularly attracted to soybeans and can wreak havoc in the fields.

Life Cycle of Stink Bugs

Stink bugs have a similar life cycle to other pests like bed bugs, lice, termites, and roaches. They go through the same stages within 50 days to 8 months, depending on the species. Let’s review the brief life of a typical stink bug.

Egg cluster and newly hatched nymphs. Source: University of Minnesota Extension

1. Egg

Warm, delightful New Jersey summers bring out romantic feelings amongst stink bugs. From May through August, males and females may mate for up to three cycles. These are the months when these disgusting pests buzz around your yard and invade your house. 

After mating, female stink bugs deposit between 20-30 barrel-shaped eggs under leaves and dense brush. The eggs’ light green colors safely camouflage them from predators. 

2. Nymph

The eggs hatch in three to five days and tiny nymphs emerge. They are just smaller versions of adults and measure about 2.4 millimeters. During the next five weeks, the nymphs feast voraciously on juice from nearby vegetation since their wings haven’t developed. 

Since their exoskeletons can’t grow along with their bodies, stink bug nymphs shed their skin about once a week. After the fifth week, they’ll emerge as full-grown adults with wings. These young adults continue to ransack any plants, fruit, or vegetables. 

Source: University of Minnesota Extension

3. Adult

The first order of business for new adults is to find a mate within two weeks. A relaxing walk through the yard or a park may be interrupted by the buzz of these pests. Stink bugs have impressive aeronautical ability and can fly up to three miles a day to forage and mate.

Source: Penn State University Extension

The Threat to Your Home and Agriculture

This family of nasty pests lives up to its name well. Mother Nature equipped them with a tiny gland that emits a sickening scent when they’re threatened. You’ve probably smelled their disgusting musk when encountering them.

Another fundamental problem with invasive stink bugs is that they can leave rust-colored stains wherever they are crushed. They can stain any hard surfaces, textiles, or upholstery. Usually, a few drops of milk and a cleaning rag can erase the stains.

If there’s any good news about these odiferous invaders, they can’t bite, sting, or spread diseases to you or your pets. If they invade your home, they usually won’t infest food sources. However, some humans and animals are sensitive to stink bug musk and can experience an allergic reaction.

For the most part, stink bugs prefer the great outdoors and avoid humans. Still, they represent a profound agricultural threat. They use their mouth parts to puncture plants, fruits, grains, and vegetables to drink their juices. Their saliva has chemical compounds that eventually destroy whatever they’ve sampled.

Hibernating Inside For Winter

Cold weather brings death to the stink bugs that spent the summer mating and ravaging harvests. Their only hope for survival is to find hospitably warm places to hibernate, like human domains.

Stink bugs race to invade their winter hideaways at the first signs of plummeting temperatures. Cracks, crevices, or holes in door screens and windows are welcome mats to these rotten pests. You may notice a few gathering around your walls in late October or early November.

They seek places in your house that are bright and warm, such as windows, ceilings, and the sides of the walls. Stink bugs can hide in your cabinets and closets or even nap on your furniture. Their buzzing and nose-dive flights are annoying, and they can fill the room with a nasty smell.

It may be tempting to swat them with a fly swatter but killing them only worsens the odor. Curious pets may snap at them, but they’ll only make that mistake once. Stink bugs also have a disgusting taste that repels potential predators.

You can be overrun with these bugs if you don’t act quickly. They tend to bring along friends and family once they find a nice, warm place to lodge.

Avoid an Infestation

Do you want your home to be free of these annoying bugs this winter? As always, prevention is your best option. Try these tips to keep these pests away.

• Attach mesh screening to openings like chimneys and any air vents. The air moves freely, and the bugs can’t get past the screen.
• Inspect your home for cracks or crevices and use weather-proof silicone caulking to seal them.
• Kill any stink bugs you see in your yard. As they die, they emit a rancid hormone that alerts other stink bugs to danger.
• Keep your garden, yard, and foundation perimeters free of overgrowth. Get rid of their hiding spots, and stink bugs aren’t likely to hang around your house.
• Did you know that dryer sheets can do more than freshen your laundry? Fresh scents are repulsive to stink bugs. Periodically, wipe your window seals with an unused dryer sheet, and these pests will go elsewhere.
• Do you use essential oils at home? Put these pleasant scents to work against stink bugs. Lavender, lemon, clove, lemongrass, and ylang-ylang are natural repellants. Just be cautious of any of these oils around young children or pets.

Fortunately, stink bugs have natural enemies, and you can encourage them on your property. Plant wildflowers to attract beneficial insects like praying mantises, jumping spiders, and wasps. These insects will munch on pesky stink bugs all season.

Knowing When to Call for Professional Help

Regardless of your best efforts, you may notice unwelcome stink bugs fluttering in your home. Some people have luck with light traps, which attract and capture live bugs. You can also suck them up in a canister vacuum and dump the invaders in a bucket of hot soapy water to destroy them.

Don’t let stink bugs use your New Jersey home as a winter resort. Our experienced and professional exterminators know how to eliminate these smelly invaders. You and your family needn’t cope with their scent and nasty presence anymore, as you can call for help.

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