Nothing will ruin your day like crushing a creepy crawler, only to notice a terrible odor invading your nostrils. You’ve probably encountered a stink bug and must figure out how to eliminate it.
Stink bugs are small, shield-shaped insects with a foul odor emitted when threatened or crushed. They can become a nuisance when seeking shelter in homes during colder months. To eliminate stink bugs, use mint essential oil, neem oil, diatomaceous earth, garlic spray, vacuuming, soapy water traps, fly tape, dryer sheets, sticky pad catchers, and night light traps. Stink bug-proofing your home involves sealing entry points and using natural-repellent plants.
As a pest control professional, I’ve helped many people eliminate stink bugs. Keep reading for my detailed tips on getting rid of these bad-smelling bugs! See also my articles: “How To Get Rid Of Centipedes” and “Do Cockroaches Bite People?“
What Are Stink Bugs?
Stink bugs are small, shield-shaped insects commonly found in the USA. They earned their name due to the foul odor they emit when threatened or crushed, which can be unpleasant. These bugs are often brownish or greenish, giving them excellent camouflage in outdoor habitats.
Stink bugs can become a nuisance when they enter homes seeking shelter during colder months. They can slip through small cracks and gaps in doors, windows, and walls, making it challenging to keep them out.
If you already have stink bugs inside your home, avoid squashing or smashing them, as this releases their strong odor. They often live in large groups, and it could take some time to completely eliminate them.
Ways to Eliminate Stink Bugs from Your Home
Stink bugs gather in tight spaces and on upper floors inside your home. They often hide in drapery folds, mass in attics and crawl spaces above garages, or walk along wall tops.
When you spot a stink bug on the move indoors, it’s best to handle it individually using one of these techniques:
Mint Essential Oil Spray
Mix ten drops of mint essential oil with 16 ounces of water and spray it around interior entry zones like windows and doors. The fresh scent repels stink bugs and makes your house smell great.
Neem Oil Solution
Combine 32 ounces of water with two teaspoons of neem oil and spray it at stink bug entry points, such as windowsills. Neem oil is a natural insecticide that disrupts the bugs’ life cycle.
Diatomaceous Earth
Spread this eco-friendly pesticide powder around entryways, both inside and outside. It breaks down the stink bug’s protective exoskeleton, leading to dehydration and eventual death.
Diatomaceous earth is a fine white powder made from fossilized aquatic organisms. Look for the food-grade version, sold in pet stores as a flea repellant or online.
Garlic Spray
Mix two cups of water with four teaspoons of garlic powder, or use fresh garlic cloves. Spray this mixture on indoor windowsills where stink bugs are likely to enter.
The stink bugs won’t like the pungent garlic smell. You’ll need to reapply the spray often to keep the odor effective.
Vacuum Method
Use a dedicated shop vac for stink bug removal, or be cautious when using your regular vacuum cleaner. Empty your vacuum canister into sealable bags and dispose of the insects immediately to avoid unpleasant odors.
Soapy Water Trap
Fill a wide-mouth jar with soapy water (adding vinegar for extra killing power), position it where you have seen stink bugs, and most often, they will drop into the water and drown.
Also, try keeping a spray bottle full of equal parts hot water and dish soap. Then, when you see stink bugs, spray them, and they will die.
Fly Tape
Although not the most attractive method, placing strips of fly tape on windowsills and other entryways can catch stink bugs effectively. Fly tape is sticky enough to trap insects and other small critters when they walk over it.
Unfortunately, this tape might trap beneficial insects, such as honey bees. Check the sticky tape often and try to free anything you don’t mean to kill.
Dryer Sheets
Rubbing dryer sheets on window screens and home entry points can deter stink bugs due to the clean odor. You’ll need to use the dryer sheets daily until insect activity ceases.
Sticky Pad Catcher
Attach a sticky lint remover sheet to a dry sweep mophead, creating a long-handled stink bug catcher perfect for reaching high-climbing bugs. Run the pad over where insects are walking; you should pick up most of them.
Have a garbage bag ready to contain the stink bugs and dispose of them. You’ll have to continue catching insects until you stop seeing their activity.
Night Light Trap
Place a wide pan with soapy water in the room with the most stink bugs before bedtime. Hang a small light over the dish.
Overnight, the bugs will be attracted to the light and drown in the soapy water. Do this for several nights in a row until you stop catching insects.
Does Vinegar Kill Stink Bugs?
Vinegar can be an effective and natural way to kill stink bugs. The strong acetic acid in vinegar can disrupt the insect’s nervous system and cause damage to its exoskeleton, ultimately leading to death.
To use vinegar as a stink bug killer, create a simple vinegar spray by mixing equal parts of white vinegar and water in a spray bottle. When you encounter stink bugs, you can directly spray this solution on them.
Additionally, you can add a few drops of dish soap to the vinegar-water mixture, which will help break down the bug’s protective waxy layer and make the solution more effective.
How to Stink Bug Proof Your Home
Stink bug-proofing your home is essential to prevent these pesky insects from invading your living space. Begin by inspecting and sealing all cracks, gaps, and openings in doors, windows, and walls, as stink bugs can sneak through even tiny entry points.
Installing fine mesh screens on windows and vents creates an additional barrier against these bugs. Make sure to repair any damaged screens you already have in your home.
Applying weatherstripping around doors and windows can further fortify your home’s defenses. Keeping your home clean and tidy helps reduce attractive environments for stink bugs, so regularly vacuum and clean areas where they may seek shelter.
Plants That Keep Stink Bugs Away
While there’s no guarantee that certain plants will completely repel stink bugs, some plants are believed to have natural repellent properties that might help keep these insects away from your home and garden.
Next time you’re preparing your garden, you can include several plants that will look beautiful, smell or taste nice, and might ward off stink bugs, including:
- Mint: Spearmint and peppermint have strong aromas, which might deter stink bugs.
- Marigolds: These yellow flowers smell unpleasant to stink bugs and other pests.
- Lavender is another fragrant plant that can be a repellent against stink bugs.
- Catnip: While it attracts cats, it has the opposite effect on stink bugs. The active compound in catnip, nepetalactone, might repel various insects.
- Chrysanthemum: These flowers contain natural insecticidal compounds called pyrethrins, which are found in several insecticides and help to ward off stink bugs.
- Garlic and Alliums: Pungent plants from the allium family, including garlic, onions, and chives, contain insect-repellent properties.
- Tansy: This flowering herb emits a strong scent that can keep stink bugs and insects away when planted around the garden.
Why Do I Have So Many Stink Bugs In My House?
You might find many stink bugs congregating in your home, particularly during the colder months, due to the bugs’ natural behavior of seeking shelter and warmth. Stink bugs are attracted to the heat of indoor environments as temperatures drop outside.
When winter approaches, they start looking for places to hibernate and overwinter. They can enter homes through small cracks, gaps around doors and windows, or damaged screens.
In the wild, stink bugs might hibernate in dead trees, under rocks, or inside other animals’ nests. Your home might be a superior alternative because it’s climate-controlled and dry.
Why Do Stink Bugs Stink?
A stink bug’s unpleasant smell is a defense mechanism to deter predators such as birds and small mammals. When threatened or disturbed, they release a pungent and foul-smelling chemical from special glands on their thorax.
The noxious smell emitted by stink bugs is often described as similar to rotting vegetables or cilantro and can linger for some time. Stink bugs’ defensive chemical is composed of aldehydes and alcohols, which are highly volatile and mixed into the surrounding air.
Fortunately, the smell is harmless to humans, and stink bugs don’t pose any direct health threats. However, the odor can be annoying and a pain to remove from fabrics and surfaces.
Do Stink Bugs Bite?
No, stink bugs don’t bite humans because they don’t have the necessary mouthparts or behavior to bite people or animals. Stink bugs are primarily plant-feeding insects, and they use their piercing-sucking mouthparts to feed on plant juices, fruits, and crops.
Do Stink Bugs Fly?
Stink bugs can fly when threatened or searching for food or shelter. While they primarily rely on walking to move around, they have functional wings that allow them to take flight when necessary.
However, stink bugs are not strong fliers compared to some other insects. They have a characteristic flight pattern that resembles a somewhat clumsy and zig-zag trajectory.