Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

I recently found a stink bug in my kitchen. It was a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (Halyomorpha halys). This invasive insect is native to Japan, Korea and China. The first North America record was from Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1998 and it reached Michigan in 2011.

Halyomorpha halys

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

The adults overwinter in houses, barns, garages, and outbuildings. Adults are 12-16mm [1/2-5/8 inch] long and shaped like a shield. Their antennae are dark with light bands. Light spots are also found on the edges of their bodies. This is the only species of stink bug commonly found inside a house during our Michigan winter. It can occur by the hundreds in some homes.

Halyomorpha halys

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs will not bite humans. They can be a major pest on fruit trees and damage the leaves and fruit of apples, pears, peaches, cherries, corn, tomatoes, peppers, soybeans, and others. Luckily they only raise one brood in Michigan.
Copyright 2017 by Donald Drife

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2 thoughts on “Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

  1. Well, don’t smack them with a shoe! The bext way to deal with them is to either take them outside or flick them *hard* against a wall. That usually does the trick.

    I know this because back in NY my place was home to many many many of them during the winter (let alone the hundreds of ladybugs that also managed to get in) and I’ve learned the hard way. They’re called “stink bugs” for a really good reason.

    I’ve seen some since being here in Michigan but I have these other bugs, long, black with orange? markings that seem to have come around that week we had really warm weather. I still see a few, don’t know what they are.

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