If you thought that illegal immigrants crossing the border into the United States from Mexico was a real threat to this country, then you haven’t spent too much time in the company of the Asian stink bug, have you?
The Asian stink bug, also known as the brown marmorated stink bug, or just “stink bug” for short, is a relatively new species here in the United States. I say “new”, not because it is new in terms of having evolved from another species recently, but “new” in the sense that that these unwelcome visitors to our country have not only freeloaded their way into this country but have overstayed their welcome by a long shot – at this point, at least a decade or two.
The Asian stink bug, as the name implies, is an indigenous insect species that is native to the Asian subcontinent. For thousands of years, they have been confined to the the southeast Asian countries of Japan, the Koreas, and China. That means that for millions of years, up until barely a couple of decades ago, the western hemisphere was completely free and devoid of this species of bug.
But a funny thing happened to change all of that. Nobody knows exactly when or how stink bugs came to the United States. But what we do know is that the very first ever officially documented sighting of a member of this species was in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in September of 1998. How these little buggers got here remains a mystery to this day, although various theories abound.
The most popular and the most widely accepted theories are that either a handful of stink bugs must have accidentally gotten into somebody’s luggage that was brought overseas on an airplane from Asia, or a handful of stink bugs must have accidentally been packaged into a crate of commercial products being imported into the United States from one of these Asian countries on a freight ship.
In either case, these stowaways have now been introduced into an alien habitat (alien to them). Funny thing is, you might expect that these bugs ought to have perished, as they are not in their indigenous habitat. The climate is different here in the west. The type of food available to them might be different. Their predators and prey may be different as well. You would think that the stink bugs would have a hard time adjusting to life here in the west (don’t all people who immigrate to the United States require a period of adjustment during which life is a little bit awkward until they get acclimated to life here)?
But such was not the case. Nobody knows exactly how many stink bugs were brought over here during that one fateful flight or boat ride from overseas. But one thing we do know is that if you fast forward 15 years or so until the present day, you will find that there are now millions of stink bugs living in the United States, and their population has multiplied and spread out at an alarming rate. At least 38 states in the North American continent have documented the presence of stink bugs within their territorial borders.
Are stink bugs harmful to humans?
The question arises as to whether or not stink bugs pose any type of threat to human beings, to indigenous animals, or to the environment, now that they are here in the west. And the answer to that is not exactly.
By not exactly, I mean to say that stink bugs aren’t harmful to humans or to animals. They don’t bite. They don’t want to suck your blood. They don’t even sting. In fact, if you leave them alone, they will leave you alone. They have no beef to pick with animals or humans. They aren’t exactly bitter about their immigrant status here. They seem to be getting along just fine.
The stink bug problem, at least as far as the average American household is concerned, is really more of a nuisance than anything. If you are scared of bugs, if they gross you out, or annoy you, then of course stink bugs are not exactly the most pleasant species of bugs to look at. They look like reptile-insect hybrids rather than plain old bugs. Plus, if you have ever tried to squash or shoo away a stink bug before, then you no doubt already know that these critters have a unique self-defense mechanism: They unleash a foul odor whenever they are frightened, not unlike how skunks do.
Threat To Agriculture
As is the case with the immigration problem in America, the federal government is, believe it or not, also monitoring the stink bug situation very careful. In fact, the federal government has made it their business to deal with the stink bug crisis in the United States.
Why?
Because there is one area of grave concern insofar as these bugs are concerned: They have found to be a threat to the agricultural industry. You see, stink bugs are herbivores. They feed on fruits and vegetables. So if you are a farmer growing crops of most any type of produce, then you are faced with the threat of a potential stink bug infestation. If left unchecked and undeterred, your crops will succumb to these bugs, as they swarm in and feed on it.
They will pierce the skin of a fruit or a vegetable and inject it with their saliva, and suck up the juice from within, and then fly away once they are satiated. There is nothing worse than having to eat a piece of fruit that has been consumed by a stink bug! They have already cost an untold amount of monetary damage to agricultural crops in the United States.
Therefore, the US Food And Drug Administration (USFDA) has already made it their business to combat this threat. How is that for putting your hard earned tax dollars to work? The agency has sent out people into the field to study these bugs, to understand what makes them tick, to find out how their natural predators are, what are their vulnerabilities, and more.
Should I kill them with pesticides?
Using pesticides to combat them is always a last resort, due to the harm they can cause to plants, animals, and even to humans. (There is no such thing as a 100% safe pesticide. There is always a trade off.) There are many other ways to deal with the problem. For example, the government is looking for ways to stunt their population growth by introducing a species of wasp into the habitats where stink bugs dwell. These wasps are known to eat unborn stink bug eggs (but won’t attack an already born stink bug). The more they can eat, the fewer stink bugs will be born.
Should I squash them?
As for just plain old killing them, you could of course do that. The only problem is that the nefarious odor that they emanate can get on your skin, get in your clothes, in your carpeting, in your walls, and in your furniture. And I’m sure you don’t want that.
Even though they say that their odor smells like the same odor as fresh cilantro (hmm… yummy cilantro), I’m sure the association between stink bugs and cilantro is not one that you would care to leave an indelible imprint of in your mind.
Fortunately, there are many other ways how to kill stink bugs, how to prevent them from invading your home, and how to deter them from destroying your crops (or your own garden, for that matter).
Stink bugs are here to stay and will likely be with us for the foreseeable future. So if the Asian stink bug immigration problem has truly become the crisis that it appears to be, then perhaps we should ask our elected officials to make this into a campaign issue!