Among the numerous fears that entomophobics (people who have a fear of insects) harbor toward insects is that they might bite, and that if they bite, their bite might in fact be poisonous to some degree, whether it results in a minor irritation, or worse it might be debilitating, or in the worst case it may inevitably prove to be fatal. Unfortunately, stink bugs are also lumped together into the category of such frighteningly creepy insects that are believed to bite humans and that they might be poisonous.
The good news is that stink bugs are not poisonous at all. In fact, stink bugs are not even known to bite human beings, not even when they feel threatened. What stink bugs do actually do, however, when they are attacked or when they feel threatened, is release a pungent odor which is noxious enough to drive away and repel most any predator.
So could it be said that this odor that stink bugs release might be poisonous? The good news is that it is not the case. The foul stench that stink bugs release isn’t such that exposure to it might irritate your respiratory system or poison you if inhaled. At worst, it is merely an annoying odor that is strong enough to cause you to step away from the bug and react with repulsion, this giving the stink bug enough time to get away.
In fact, generally speaking, stink bugs are not harmful to human beings in any way… at least not physically to humans. (They cause harm to humans in other ways indirectly…financially for example. For example, they can wreak financial havoc on a farmer’s crop production when it is infested by a swarm of stink bugs that have to come to feed off of the fruits the farmer is growing.) Otherwise, stink bugs don’t pose any sort of direct physical threat to human beings themselves. They sure may not exactly be the most attractive insects that anyone has ever laid eyes on (but then again, is there any?), given their reptilian visage. And without a doubt nobody actually likes having them around. And there are many people feel downright threatened and intimidated by their mere presence in a room.
But the fact of the matter is that they are in fact benign and harmless. If you see one crawling on the wall somewhere in your house, you need not worry. They are not going to bother you. They are not wont to crawl on people. They are not likely to go fly buzzing around your head aimlessly (although they do make a buzzing sound when they fly). They aren’t out to sting you or suck your blood like some other insects do. In fact, stink bugs are actually herbivorous. They thrive exclusively on fruits and vegetables, which is what makes them such a threat to the crops that farmers grow. (Now if you are an etomophobic person, they may extremely frightening to you. But you can rest assured that this particular species of insect is harmless and is should not be a cause of fear in your mind.)
And the bottom line is that stink bugs are not poisonous at all.