It could happen in your kitchen, in the garden while you are watering the plants or maybe even while you are settling into bed. A shield-shaped bug comes lurking around the corner and immediately you react. You step on it, releasing a putrid smell. It’s a stink bug. But how did it get it in?
WHAT ARE STINK BUGS ATTRACTED TO?
There are a few reasons why a stink bug may have chosen your house as its new home. Stink bugs commonly feed on fruits. They have a preference for ripe fruit. If you happen to have ripe fruit in your garden, you might be sending out a dinner invite to a whole community of stink bugs. These insects also feed on native and ornamental trees, shrubs, vines and weeds.
HOW DO STINK BUGS GET INTO YOUR HOUSE?
Stink bugs prefer warm weather. To survive during the colder months, they overwinter indoors. During this time, they are likely to stay hidden within walls or the attic. Their presence doesn’t typically become known until temperatures start heating up again and they are ready to go back outside. Unfortunately, once inside, stink bugs don’t really know their way back out. These bugs also release an aggregation pheromone that can draw other stink bugs inside your home.
ARE STINK BUGS ATTRACTED TO LIGHT?
While stink bugs mostly enter the house during the day, at night, they can also be attracted to light. In fact, their attraction to light is sometimes used against them in the form of a trap. In dark settings, a lamp might be used to help draw them back outside – or to their demise.
The list of what attracts stink bugs goes on and on. If a hands-on approach to stink bugs is not for you, call Terminix® and let a pest management professional take care of the source of your problem.
