Stink Bugs Came From China - Learn Stuff

Stink Bugs are annoying, destructive, and... stinky. But unlike Japanese Beetles or Gypsy Moths (both names are probably considered racist these days), I don`t recall Stink Bugs being a thing back in the day. There is a good reason for that.

The term `stink bug` is rather generic, and could refer to different species depending on your geographic location. I`m talking about the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, or Halyomorpha halys.

I live in Pennsylvania and they are everywhere, but this wasn`t always the case. The BMSB is native to Asia, specifically China, Japan and Korea, and that`s where it stayed until 1998.

The first documented case was recorded in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Within 10 years, the insect was reported in many states including those on the west coast.

Today, the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug is all over the western hemisphere and Europe, causing tens of millions of dollars in crop damage annually.

They can be so bad where my parents live that my mom walks around the house with a hand-held vacuum cleaner to suck them up. This wasn`t a problem until 1998.