1. The brown marmorated stink bugs arrived first in the U.S. in Pennsylvania in 1996 on a shipping container from northeast Asia.
2. They have now been found in 44 states.
3. They cannot bite or sting, but are destructive to agriculture including soybeans and corn in Ohio.
4. Stink bugs release a pheromone to defend against predators that is typically described as the smell of “dirty socks”.
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5. Biologists recently found that the Trissolcus japonicus wasp is a natural predator to the stink bug.
6. Brown marmorated stink bugs communicate with each other in two basic ways: via vibrational “songs,” and via released chemicals that act as pheromones.
7. Spray insecticides, directed into cracks and crevices, will not prevent the bugs from emerging and is not a viable or recommended treatment.
Compiled by Eric Elwell,WHIO StormCenter 7 Chief Meteorologist.