Stinkbugs in Charlottesville

Sometimes coincidences matter, and are fortuitous.

Yesterday I was at a final walkthrough with some buyer clients from out West and the conversation turned to stink bugs. What are they? Where are they from? What do they do? I knew they stink, and they seem to have replaced the bad lady bugs, aka Multicolored Asian Lady Beetles.

Stink bugs were bad last year. This year they’re worse. And they’re not from here (no longer available).

The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB), is found throughout Virginia although some isolated pockets of the Commonwealth have not seen this insect yet. The BMSB is an invasive insect not native to Virginia or North America. It was accidentally introduced near Allentown, PA in 1998 and has spread since that time. It feeds on a wide range of fruits and seed pods and has the potential to be a pest on peaches and soybeans. For homeowners, it is mainly a nuisance pest, as it invades houses in the winter looking for a place to over-winter.

Driving to my next meeting, I turned on Coy Barefoot’s show on WINA and heard last year’s conversation with Peter Warren, an entomologist at the Extension Office. The conversation was informative, useful and answered all of my stinkbug questions.

I recommend listening to the whole thing.

Update 24 September 2012: It turns out there’s a whole federal coalition tasked with going after the stinkbugs …