
As summer starts winding down, the insidious stinkbug is already scouting out places to spend the winter, and your house looks pretty darn inviting. That is why an Atlanta pest control company is waiting for your call, to eliminate this pest.
In case you're wondering why your mother never warned you about stinkbugs, it's because she didn't need to. Stinkbugs have only been around for about two decades, after arriving in the U.S. in crop shipments from the China, Taiwan and Korea.
But you needn't panic if you discover your home or apartment infested with stinkbugs; you just need to show these pests who the boss is.
The culprit's technical name is the brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys), but green stinkbugs can be found in the southern states. You can spot a stinkbug due to its shield shape, and it can be anywhere from half-an-inch to an inch long.
Why Are Stinkbugs Such A Nuisance?
Although stinkbugs can't cause structural damage to your property, as termites can, and they don't sting or bite people, they are still a significant problem in your home.
For starters, they stink, hence the catchy name. The smell emitted by a crushed stinkbug has been described as ranging from the acrid smell of rotten almonds to the stench of stinky feet.
How Do Stinkbugs Get Into My Home?
When stinkbugs want in, they are hard to stop. They gather on the outside walls of your house at the end of summer, and soon start crawling into your home through any cracks and crevices they can find.
While they are primarily a nuisance pest, an infestation of stinkbugs can be quite unnerving and overwhelming when the pests appear in large numbers. However, there are tried and true ways to keep stinkbugs out.
What Can I Do About Stinkbugs?
The best defense against stinkbugs is to close all their entryways into your house by sealing and caulking all cracks and crevices. Make sure your door and window screens are intact, and pay attention to openings in your home's exterior where pipes, wires and cables enter the house.
Don't use commercial insecticides, which are not recommended for stinkbugs, and NEVER try to get rid of them by stepping on them - they'll stink up your house.
Instead, you can get rid of the stinkbugs you see by vacuuming the area thoroughly, and call a professional exterminator to finish the job properly.