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How To Kill Stink Bugs With Dish Soap

Who would have thought that you could kill stink bugs with something as seemingly innocuous as dish washing detergent! But it is true. It wasn’t exactly discovered in a laboratory. It was not as if some entomologist was running clinical trials with stink bugs in some laboratory somewhere, trying out different chemical agents to see which ones would harm the bugs and which ones wouldn’t.

The use of dish soap to kill stink bugs was seemingly discovered by accident – by regular people like you and me, trying different things to thwart the onslaught of their infestation into our homes. And then the next thing you knew, this idea of using dish soap as a means how to kill stink bugs suddenly went viral, and it has become a commonly accepted household solution for keeping the stink bug problem at bay.

Stink bugs have only been a problem in North America for about a decade or so now. For thousands of years, they had actually been native insects from southeastern Asia. For thousands of years, southeastern Asia had been their habitat, in countries such as Japan, China, and the Koreas. It was only recently that the stink bug problem became a crisis here in North America, after it is believed that a handful of these bugs accidentally came abroad from overseas in shipping crates that were not properly inspected before leaving their home ports back home. Now, the stink bug problem has become widespread in the United States, spanning well over 33 states across the continent.

There are many ways how to kill stink bugs. Unfortunately, the most common solution that most people think of when it comes to killing bugs is to simply squash them. That solution might work well and good with ants and roaches. But stink bugs are a whole different story. If you try to kill a stink bug, let alone try to frighten one, it releases a terribly foul stench, as a deterrent. This natural self-defense mechanism is potent enough to drive away just about any predator, and it is definitely unpleasant for human beings as well.

You don’t want this stench to get on your clothes or on your skin – not because it is harmful, but because it is a nuisance. While it is a matter subject to debate, it is believed, among some circles, that when stink bugs release their odor, it alerts and attracts other stink bugs toward it, thereby increasing the concentration of their population within one area such as a particular home. Also, you don’t want the remnants and residue of stink bug odor to be stuck to your furniture, to the floors, or to the walls of your house either.

And it is for this reason that it might be in your best interests to find other ways to kill stink bugs and to eliminate their presence entirely. There are numerous ways to deal with the problem of stink bugs. Some ways rely on some creativity and imagination to eradicate the stink bug problem on your own, in a do-it-yourself fashion. And some ways rely on calling up professional exterminators to do the job for you.

Let’s take the example of dish washing soap, for example. Of course, it is common sense that if you submerge any living creature, including humans, in a pool of dish washing soap for an extended period of time, it can be extremely harmful, if not fatal. But stink bugs are a special case: You don’t even need to submerge them in dish washing soap.

It has been found if stink bugs come into physical contact with dish soap, this can be extremely paralyzing, if not lethal, for them. There is something about the chemical composition of dish soap that has been proven to be harmful to stink bugs. But there is one caveat though: Stink bugs have a protective “armor” – an exoskeleton that gives them their characteristic “reptilian” look. This armor is seemingly impervious to the dish soap. The soap is only harmful to the bug if it comes into contact with its underside, where all of its organs are. So you can be looking down at a stink bug and spraying it with a bottle of dish soap all you want, and it won’t have any effect on it (except that it might get a little slippery for the bug.)

… Which brings us to a discussion on the different ways how you can maximize the effectiveness of dish soap to kill a stink bug:

1. One way is to use the submersion technique. You could, quite literally scoop up a stink bug with a paper towel, or somehow trick it to climbing onto a piece of paper, a sandal, or any other object, and then quickly submerge it into a container full of dish soap. The bug should be a goner within minutes.

2. If the thought of doing any of the above makes you queasy, then another alternative might be to grab a spray bottle full of dish soap, as mentioned earlier, and keep it ready. When you see a stink bug, get ready, aim, and fire! Spray that little bugger until it falls to the ground, turns over onto its back, leaving its belly exposed, and then spray that thing hard until it passes out. As mentioned earlier, it is important to make sure that you are spraying its underside. Spraying its upper body is futile. At the very least, the stink bug might lie still for a few minutes, but then it will get up again and move about its business.

3. If you really want to be hands off with having to deal with or interact with stink bugs in the process of capturing and killing them, then you can set up some sort of a stink bug trap. This usually involves a light source, a source of heat, some fruit as bait, some duct tape, and a container of dish soap. The stink bug will be attracted toward the trap because of these three things: light, heat, and fruit, all of which are attractive to these bugs. Once the stink bug comes into proximity with these things and gets stuck to the duct tape, you can then submerge the duct tape into the dish soap container and seal the lid.

Dish soap works. You should definitely give it a try. But it may not work in all situations. If your house is heavily overrun by stink bugs, you may think to yourself “how much dish soap am I going to have to use”? You don’t want your whole house smelling like dish soap. If the problem is just way too overwhelming, you might need a little help.

In a situation like this, you might want to call up a professional exterminator who is professionally trained on how to kill stink bugs.

How To Kill Stink Bugs – Thwarting The Kamikaze Attack

Extermination Methods, How To Kill Stink Bugs, Protecting Your Home

What is the difference between a kamikaze warrior and a stink bug?

Both will swoop down out of the sky to impact an object on the ground, but the only difference is that whereas the kamikaze warrior is willing to die, we wish stink bugs would die.

Indeed, one of the characteristic features of stink bugs is that they sure know how to make an entrance onto the scene: They will swoop down from on high and impact a particular object or surface on the ground, as though they were gearing up for a kamikaze attack. (It is not unheard of for stink bugs to die in the process of doing this, but typically most stink bugs survive the process.)

Stink bugs are deemed by many people as being more annoying than just about any other typical household insect. Unlike flies, mosquitoes, and ants, stink bugs bear a distinctively “reptilian” appearance, considering that their entire back is covered by a protective exoskeleton shell. What makes stink bugs such an annoying nuisance is that they are seemingly stubborn and resilient when it comes to seeking shelter in a warm place. Stink bugs will quite literally stop at nothing to do whatever it takes to gain entry into the protective confines of your house, no matter what it takes. They are hardwired instinctively to seek out warm places to hide during the autumn and winter seasons, and unfortunately for us humans, our homes are considered prime real estate for stink bugs to seek refuge in during these cold seasons.

Why is it that stink bugs seem to emerge out of nowhere? You could be minding your own business, sitting at a desk, or sitting at the dinner table, or cooking dinner in the kitchen, and then all of the sudden, out of the blue, without any prior warning, you hear a unique buzzing sound, and then bam! A stink bug will suddenly appear, having made an abrupt and hard impact onto the surface after crash landing, kamikaze style, from a higher surface or from the ceiling, a wall, or an overhead air duct. (Stink bugs make buzzing sounds, similar to the common housefly, but a little bit louder.)

Indeed, stink bugs are extremely resilient creatures. It is like a bad horror movie: You see one stink bug in the house and you kill it, only to find another stink bug in the house that very same day or some time a few days later has taken its place. If it seems as though your house is being overrun by stink bugs, then it is no doubt time to take some sort of action to do something about them and taking whatever preventative actions are necessary in order to prevent future stink bug infestations as well.

Once stink bugs gain access into your house, typically you will find them lingering and loitering around windows, window sills, doors, skylights, crevices, cracks or gaps in the walls, or near sources of abundant light in your house, such as lamps.

And if you haven’t already figured it out through first hand experience, you should be made aware of the fact that stink bugs can fly. Yes, indeed, stink bugs are flying insects. They may be creepy crawlers, but they are also insects. And one of their characteristics , as mentioned above, is that they sure know how to make an entrance into a room! Very often, you will find stink bugs suddenly swoop onto a table or other surface, seemingly out of nowhere. Their arrival is preceded by a distinct buzzing sound. Yes, stink bugs make a buzzing sound when they fly. And then they will land with great force onto the surface.

The manner in which stink bugs will make an entrance into a room, sweeping down from on high, is very similar to the way a Japanese kamikaze World War II pilot would swoop down from out of the sky, resulting in a surprise attack upon the enemy. Of course, the main difference between a real Japanese kamikaze attack versus the kamizake style entrance that a stink bug makes into the room is that the stink bug doesn’t do it with the intent to kill any prey, let alone to kill itself. (The Japanese kamikaze air force pilots of yore were conditioned to take on these stunts with the full knowledge and intention of engaging in a suicide mission, for the greater good.)

It is rather sadly ironic that stink bugs are natives of Japan, the nation that relied heavily on kamikaze dive bombers, and that these bugs themselves also engage in dive bombing by instinct. While other insects will make a graceful and soft landing onto whatever surface they wish to land upon, stink bugs will very often “dive bomb” their way from place to place, particularly from high to low.

For this reason, you must be very vigilant about protecting your home if you suspect or are aware of the fact that there is a population of stink bugs in your home. Stink bugs do not discriminate or have any deliberate intention, there is no rhyme or reason to where, why, and how they choose their targets for dive bombing.

Many people will report that stink bugs have dive bombed right into their pots while cooking in the kitchen, or that the stink bug will end up on their shirt. As far as food is concerned, it is extremely important, for this reason, that you cover any food or refrigerate it, so that stink bugs cannot dive bomb onto these fruits and feed off of them. Or the stink bugs might even dive bomb onto your person, seemingly out of nowhere at random. If you suffer from entomophobia (fear of insects), this might no doubt freak you out of course.

The good news is that while the mere thought of stink bugs staging “kamikaze” style entrances into a room, you can actually also take this kamikaze dive-bombing behavior and turn it around to your advantage as an effective means for how to kill stink bugs:

For example, you can set up stink bug traps to entice and lure them toward the trap. They will kamikaze right into the trap, and never be able to break free. For example, one type of trap that you could set up would consist of a light source adjacent to a bowl of dish soap…. If the stink bug dive bombs toward the light source to seek its warmth and illumination, it will land in the dish, and when the dish soap makes contact with the stink bug’s belly, it will poison it. (Dish soap is among a number of different household solutions that have been determined, through trial and error, to be lethal to stink bugs.)

There are other types of traps you can set up as well, but the use of dish washing detergent has been proven to be extremely effective at paralyzing and killing stink bugs, for the most part. Other traps might be ones that cause the stink bugs to become confined into a box or a container in which they will eventually starve, suffocate, and die. Another type of trap might simply be a bug zapper, that kills the stink bug as soon as it makes contact with the light source.

There is no way to prevent stink bugs from dive bombing. It is in their nature. As stated above, their dive bombing does not appear to be deliberately aimed toward any particular targets such as food or light, as they have been known to dive bomb directly onto people’s shirts or onto desks or tables, even though there is no food present.

So the best prevention in this case is to be prepared to deal with them and to capture them when this dive bombing does occur.

There are many ways how to kill stink bugs. One way is to set up traps for them when they engage in their “kamikaze attacks”. While it is not possible always to predict when and where a stink bug might emerge and engage in this type of dive bombing activity, it is possible to lure them and entice them to dive bomb toward a light source, a source of heat, or towards fresh fruits that they thrive on.

When all else fails, you can always set up an appointment with your local exterminator. They would be the experts on how to kill stink bugs.

How To Kill Stink Bugs – Keeping Them Out Of Your House

Protecting Your Home

The first line of defense against stink bugs is to take the appropriate measures that are necessary in order to keep them from entering into your homes. Millions of homes across the country have played host to stink bugs that have somehow managed invade your house and made a home for themselves within the four walls of your domicile.

Unless you run a farm, where stink bugs pose a very real threat to your crops, you probably do not have a problem with stink bugs when they are outdoors. In fact, you probably don’t even see them or notice them outdoors. We can go through our entire lives, completely oblivious to the fact that stink bugs are all around us, until and unless they manifest themselves indoors.

And so the most obvious question might be “why”? Why do stink bugs seem to be so determined to make their way indoors? Why do they go through all the trouble to squeeze into our homes, the cracks in the windows, cracks in the siding, and cracks in the foundation, or through the chimney or exhaust vents? Obviously it can’t merely be some coincidence that a horde of stink bugs just happened to randomly end up inside your home. They must have deliberately made an effort to come inside. Surprisingly enough, that is true.

Stink bugs do try to come into your home on purpose. Why? There are a few obvious reasons:

Stink bugs are instinctively drawn toward sources of light. At night time, if you leave your window blinds or your curtains open while the lights are on, guess who you will find clinging to your window screens? Yep. You guessed it. Stink bugs. So one way to prevent an onslaught of stink bugs would be to close your curtains and your blinds at night so that no indoor lighting escapes outdoors for stink bugs to take notice of and be drawn towards.
Stink bugs seek out sources of warmth. During the summer months, stink bugs will merrily mind their own business, dwelling outdoors thanks to the temperate season. But as the weather begins to cool in autumn, you will find many a stink bug attempting to seek refuge in warm places indoors, in order to escape the cold. And so therefore, peoples’ homes becomes a prime target for stink bugs during the cold winter months. So what can you do in this situation? You need to make sure that there are no cracks in your window sills, no cracks in the foundation, and no cracks in the siding of your house, and that you use appropriate coverings over your exterior exhaust vents so that stink bugs will be deterred against trying to gain entry into your home through any of these crevices.
Stink bugs have been reportedly known to track the scent of other stink bugs, particularly if they had previously been squashed or had been frightened and given off their trademark pungent odor. So it is important that you strike “squashing” off of your list of ways how to kill stink bugs. If you want to know how to kill a stink bug, there are plenty of other ways to do so that don’t involve actually squashing them.

When in doubt, your best bet might be to contact an exterminator who would be an expert on how to kill stink bugs.

How To Kill Stink Bugs – Can Wasps Be The Answer?

Extermination Methods, Stink Bug Facts

For many years, it was believed that there was no way to control the explosive growth of the stink bug population that has begun to plague the North American continent over the past few years. Each and every year, the population of stink bugs in North America has been rising at an alarming rate. Initially clustered in the northeastern regions of the United States, you can now find stink bugs spread across the entire continent, all the way to the west coast. Carrying their infamously nefarious stench with them wherever they go, this menace has been a source of major annoyance for the general population, while at the same time it has proven to be a ruinous force for the agricultural population.

Up until recently, there was no known way to keep the stink bug population in check. There had been no known predators in our environment that could kill stink bugs.

Researchers in the United States who have been commissioned with the task of studying stink bugs and identifying ways of how to kill stink bugs and keep their population under control have determined that there are indeed natural predators in the food chain that can be used to threaten the stink bug population:

Stink bugs, meet the Asian wasp.

What is interesting is that Asian wasps don’t attack stink bugs directly. Even if they were to try to, the foul stench that stink bugs emanate would be enough to drive the wasps away. Instead, what Asians wasps do is infiltrate the nests of stink bugs and attack the eggs that they lay. By doing this, the Asian wasp is able to keep the stink bug population under control, keeping new baby stink bugs from ever hatching.

Of course, this is not to say that the Asian wasp is a benign creature in its own right. We obviously don’t want to see the stink bug problem be replaced by an Asian wasp problem. But by introducing these wasps into the environment where stink bugs procreate and create their nests, it is hoped that we can keep the population from growing any larger than it has.

Left unchecked, we may find that the stink bug problem will only get worse in the upcoming years to come. This is only one way to address the problem of how to kill stink bugs: Let nature take its course.

In the meantime, of course, we need to do our part to address the stink bug problem. Other methods for how to mitigate the stink bug problem include taking measures to prevent stink bugs from entering your home by sealing it properly, setting up stink bug traps, power washing your home.

If you aren’t sure what to do to address the stink bug problem on your own, or you just don’t have the stomach to deal with the problem by yourself because stink bugs make you squeamish, then you can always enlist the help of a professional extermination service and sic them on these annoying creatures. A professional extermination service will be able to advise you as to what is the best way how to kill stink bugs.

How To Kill Stink Bugs Using Stink Bug Traps

Extermination Methods, Protecting Your Home, Sprays and Traps

There are many different strategies for how to kill stink bugs. Some are more effective than others. And some are more desirable than others. By now, you probably have already figured out that while squashing stink bugs may seem like the most common sense way to deal with them, as you would with any other bug, the reality is that this is probably the least desirable way to deal with them, due to the foul odor that they emanate when they get frightened. (Hence the name “stink” bugs, because of the foul stench they release as a way to detract predators.)

One hands-off way how to kill stink bugs is to by using stink bug traps in order to stop them dead. A stink bug trap is designed to attract these critters, luring them toward it, and then trapping them so that they cannot escape, while the lethal agents within the trap get to work to put the stink bugs out of their misery.

There are three ways in ways stink bug traps can work for you:

Stink bugs are attracted to light. So in dark areas of your home or at night, or outside near your home, if you place a lighted stink bug trap there, stink bugs will be drawn to the light.
As with any other species of animal or insect, stink bugs are attracted to pheromones, which are airborne hormones that are used for attracting a mate. So a stink bug trap that emanates these stink bug pheromones can serve as an extremely effective means to draw these bugs toward the trap.
Those stink bug traps also work very well that have a stash of their food available in the trap, laid out in such a way that stink bugs that happen to be in the proximity of the trap will be able to sense the food and thus be drawn toward it.

There are all kinds of stink bug traps out there. Some employ only one of the three methods, whereas there are other traps that employ all three methods. This latter type of trap that combines multiple methods of stink bug attraction generally tend to be more effective since they increase the odds of being able to lure these bugs toward them.

So how do these stink bug traps work? Once the bug is lured into the trap, what happens? Typically there will either be some type of adhesive material that will prevent the stink bug from escaping, or the entry way into the trap will not allow the bugs to escape once they enter it.

And what is inside the trap? What exactly is used to actually exterminate a stink bug? The answer varies. You may be surprised to find that dousing stink bugs with dish washing liquid detergent is sufficient to kill them. Yes, you read correctly! You don’t need some synthetic, toxic chemical bug spray. Dish washing liquid detergent has been proven to be lethal to stink bugs! So a solution of this detergent is all you need inside the trap to exterminate stink bugs.

If you need professional help to rid yourself of your stink bug problem, then perhaps it may be worth considering to call up your local exterminator, who would be an expert on how to kill stink bugs.

How To Kill Stink Bugs – How Effective Is Power Washing Your Home?

Protecting Your Home

One of the most effective ways how to kill stink bugs and to keep them from invading your home is to power wash your home regularly. Power washing can achieve a number of desirable outcomes (desirable for you but undesirable for stink bugs):

It can eliminate any trace of the odoriferous emanations that previous stink bugs may have released while perched upon the windows of your home. By doing so, you will be able to reduce the likelihood that other stink bugs that happen to be flying by will notice the scent and follow it.

Depending the nature of the detergent you use, you will be able to repel stink bugs from wanting to come near your home, because the scent will drive them away.Any stink bugs that are already nesting within crevices alongside the exterior of your house can be exterminated on the spot if they come into contact with the detergent that you use to wash the house with.Now, of course there are quite naturally some drawbacks to power washing your home as a means how to kill stink bugs:

– Power washing costs money. Doing it yourself can save you money but can cost you in terms of time. If you know how to do it yourself, by all means, go for it. You can always call upon an expert to come and take care of it for you.

– You may need to power wash your home on a regular, frequent basis in order to keep the stink bug problem at bay. Power washing is not a permanent, long term solution for how to kill stink bugs. It does, however, buy you some time, giving you some relief from any new stink bug infestations.

– You may not appreciate the scent of the power washing detergent that is used. Many people have found success with using regular dish washing detergent as a means how to kill stink bugs. It seems that this seemingly harmless chemical to humans is extremely lethal to stink bugs.

The bottom line is that power washing is definitely something you will want to try.

On the flip side, consider these benefits that power washing your home has to offer in your efforts how to kill stink bugs.

– If there is any scent such as pheromones from other stink bugs in the proximity of your house, the power washing solution should eliminate it. This will eliminate any odors that may have been attracting more stink bugs to come toward your house in the first place.

– Power washing your home will eliminate the foul odor that stink bugs emanate, as this odor may have permeated the siding of your house.

– If there were any stink bugs nesting along the siding of your home, power washing the exterior of your house should dislodge and displace the nests that they have forged for themselves.

– For a period of time, the power washing solution will serve as a protective coating that will kill any stink bugs on contact.

How To Kill Stink Bugs

Uncategorized

If you are seeking ways to how to kill stink bugs in your home you have most likely already know just how hard this is to accomplish.

Before you learn how to kill stink bugs it’s a good idea to know two ways that people commonly use that are bad ideas.

The very first things people tend to do when they spot a stink bug is to squish it. This actually is a very bad idea and should be avoided. There is a very good reason why stink bugs are called, “stink bugs”. When they are squished the stink is released. It is a very unpleasant odor. Instead of squishing the bug simply use a tissue or paper towel to pick it up and then flush it down the toilet.

Another thing people will do when trying to get rid of these bugs is to vacuum them up. While this can be effective it also can make your vacuum omit a very bad smell every time you decide to vacuum your home. It’s best to dedicate one vacuum for stink bugs and the other for the general vacuum cleaning around the home.

How to Kill Stink Bugs – Stop Them Before They Enter

Stink bugs love a warm environment so they look for warm places to hibernate during the winter. These small bugs can easily creep into your home through any open door or windows which is why many people feel the urge to keep them shut.

While it may be impossible to seal up every little crack, it is a good idea to attempt to seal up as many of them as possible.

A good way to think about this process is to consider it your opportunity to weatherize your home. Placing weather stripping around your windows and doors is a good start. Be sure to replace any old or cracking weather stripping. In addition you can also use silicone caulking to fill in small cracks and crevasses around the house. It is a rather time consuming project, but it does help keep them from out of your house.

How to Kill Stink Bugs – To Light or Not to Light

Another thing about stink bugs is that they are highly attracted to light. Unless there is a serious concern for security, it’s a good idea not to leave any lights on outside your home. In addition it’s also a good idea not to have the lights on in rooms where light is not needed inside your home as well.

On the other hand, if you want to learn how to kill stink bugs with light, you can look into using indoor traps that have a tiny light included in the trap that is especially attractive to these very intrusive pests. These types of traps can sometimes be found at your local market where garden supplies are sold.

When all else fails, it is probably time to call the exterminator and rid your home of these pests so you can relax and enjoy an open window or a pleasant night out on the porch with the lights on. When you are at the end of your rope, and you just can’t seem to win the war against these pesky creatures, then it may be time to call the experts who know the right way how to kill stink bugs.