Stink Bug Control

Stink Bugs: Foul Smelling, Seasonal Invaders

When summer ends and autumn begins, nature starts a stunning transformation. Leaves start changing color before falling, the air temperature begins to drop, and animals begin to prepare for winter. Some animals hibernate for days, weeks, or even months; others migrate to areas better able to provide warmth, food, and/or shelter. Stink bugs respond to seasonal changes by entering homes during the cooler months, searching for a warm place to overwinter.

Stink bugs are usually not a danger to your health, but when you start seeing large numbers of them gathered in and around your home or business, it can be disconcerting. These notorious pests with a stinky reputation live up to their name, giving off an unpleasant odor when they feel threatened. If you’re having issues with stink bugs in DC, Maryland, or Northern Virginia, Miche Pest Control can help.

Stink Bugs Can Be Active Year-Round

Stink bugs will typically start making their way indoors after the summer temperatures have peaked and autumn temperatures start setting in. In DC & Baltimore, this is usually in mid-August or in September. They squeeze into the cracks and crevices around your home, looking for a warm place to overwinter.

After finding a place to overwinter, stink bugs may continue to remain active around the outside of the home until outside temperatures are consistently below 50 degrees. Around that point, stink bugs will enter diapause. Diapause is similar to hibernation; it slows down stink bugs’ metabolism, and they survive on energy and nutrients they stored during the warmer months in spring and summer.

Because stink bugs like to enter diapause while hiding in the walls of your warm home, they will sometimes exit diapause before winter is over. This usually happens on exceptionally warm days, but may be because the stink bugs were warmed and “activated” by the air that naturally flows inside the walls of the home. This is why it is common to see stink bugs inside the home during the winter months.

When winter is over and spring arrives, stink bugs will leave their hiding places in search of other stink bugs to mate with, and food sources to replenish the nutrients and energy they consumed during the winter. Stink bugs typically eat leaves, flowers, fruits, and crops, but can also feed on some other pests, like caterpillars. They are known to damage tomatoes and have caused major crop losses in orchards when left uncontrolled.

Miche Pest Control's Stink Bug Program

Quarterly Stink Bug Control

Stink bugs are a part of our quarterly pest protection program. The service includes treating the areas with stink bug activity, focusing on the areas of your home where stink bugs are most often found: the sides of your structure, and around doors, windows, and soffits. The service also includes power spraying around the foundation outside, granulating around the perimeter of the home or business, treating the cracks and crevices outside, a complimentary cobweb and wasp nest removal, and treatment inside as requested by you, or as recommended by your technician.

Exclusion Recommendations

An important part of any stink bug program is identifying areas where stink bugs can enter your property. As a part of the service, your technician will look for potential stink bug entry points, and make recommendations to keep the stink bugs out. Common points of entry include cracks around doors and windows, gaps underneath the siding, gaps at the corners of siding, around chimneys, open fireplaces, between fascia/soffits and walls, and around utility lines.