What kills stink bugs? Well duh. Squashing them, right? I’m sure you feel pretty sheepish reading this answer because you already knew that, right?
But seriously. If you are reading this, then that’s most probably not the answer you were looking for. That’s not what brought you to this web page. What you are no doubt looking for is an alternative to squashing them. You are looking for a way to exterminate them, expel them out from your house once and for all, and keep them from ever invading your home ever again… all without having to deal with that foul stench of their that they emit whenever they are threatened or frightened.
Alternatives To Squashing
Here is list a of ways (which is by no means exhaustive) of ways to kill stink bugs without having to resort to outright squashing them:
- You can always vacuum them up. Having a bagless handvac fully charge and readily available can help you pick up stink bugs quickly, effortlessly, mess-free, and odor-free. It also makes disposing of them a much simpler process as well.
- You can set up traps for them. You can lure them with either fresh fruit or a source of light and heat, as in the case of one of those bug zapper lights. In the case of the fruit, you can affix the fruit with fly-paper so that when the stink bug lands on the fruit and attempts to eat it, it will get stuck!
- You can spray them with dish soap. Apparently this common household cleaning agent is not only good for cleaning your dishes and softening your hands, but also for lethally exterminating stink bugs!
- Setting them free by luring them outside. This can be accomplished either by vacuuming them up and then setting them free, or by setting a trap for them and then releasing them outside, or using some other means to lure them outside.
- If you don’t mind stink bugs dying a slow death, you need only deprive them of their primary source of nutrition: fruits and vegetables.
- If you want to prevent stink bugs from reproducing, you need to cut off their access to trees and shrubs near your home where they can lay their eggs, by spraying them with pesticides.
- If you want nature to take its course and kill stink bugs, then introducing wasps into the habitat where stink bugs can be found will be a good way to keep the stink bug population from growing out of control, as it has been found that wasps will feed on stink bug eggs.
There are many more ways how to deal with the problem of these bugs. The above list of the 7 most popular and most common solutions really just skims the surface.
Keep in mind, though, that killing stink bugs by means of squashing them isn’t in and of itself a bad thing, were it not for the odor that they give off when attacked or threatened. Depending on what surfaces the stench comes into contact with and is able to permeate, it can be quite problematic to thoroughly clean and disinfect said surfaces in order to completely wipe out every last trace of the odor-causing spray that they give out.
And it might not be that much of a big deal if you find yourself only having to kill about one or two stink bugs every few days. But if your home is starting to get quite literally overrun by these little bugger to the point where you would consider the need to call for professional help.
Also keep in mind that stink bugs are not in any way harmful to humans. They don’t bite or anything like that. So if fear of getting bitten by a stink bug is what keeps you up all night, and paralyzes you to the point where you are hesitating to take action to purge your home of these bugs, then hopefully this fact that they are actually harmless should allay some of your fears, if not all of them.
The only harm that stink bugs really can cause is damage to farm crops or to gardens where fruits and vegetables are being grown out in fields. It being the case that stink bugs are strictly vegan insects that feed on fruits and vegetables, this is one thing that requires a lot of proactive planning and action in order to prevent a loss of your vegetation.
While the use of pesticides may work in terms of keeping stink bugs at bay, it is by no means the ideal solution. Just think of all of the environmental harm you are causing. Just think about the unintended consequences that your produce will suffer on account of you using pesticides to deal with your stink bug problem.
There are many non-toxic means how to kill stink bugs. Pesticides really should be kept as an absolute last resort when all other means to address the problem have been tried, exhausted, and failed. Solutions such as the setting up of traps can be every bit as effective as pesticides, if not better, if you do all of your planning properly. You can use fly paper. You can use a bug zapper. You can lure them toward the trap using fruits and vegetables, or by keeping other previously caught stink bugs nearby, such that they release their aggregation pheromone, thereby attracting other stink bugs and luring them into the trap.
In answer to the question of what kills stink bugs, your best bet would be to go with item number 3 which I have described above: spraying them with dish washing soap. This seemingly innocuous cleaning agent seems like it can do no harm, but somehow it had been discovered that it is highly lethal and paralyzing to stink bugs. Now there are many other household chemicals besides dish soap that will work just as well, but dish soap happens to be one of the most popular and well-known among the “home remedies” for dealing with the stink bug problem.
Let me share with you some more secrets, tips and tricks on what kills stink bugs.