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.