In autumn
Home remedies help against stink bugs
In summer the stink bug has a green coat.
© Thijs de Graaf/Shutterstock.com
In the fall, stink bugs like to get lost in houses or apartments. This is how you fight the animals.
With the arrival of autumn, nature begins to prepare for the cold season. This also includes finding suitable winter quarters. Among other things, stink bugs try to nest in our warm houses or apartments when it gets cooler. Dozens of them sit on house walls and crawl inside through open windows. There they can really scare the residents: when they buzz around, the animals hum very loudly. Stink bugs are completely harmless to health, but they can live up to their name. How do you get rid of the animals and which ones? Home remedies help?
Stink bugs are color changers. In spring and summer they are bright green, but in autumn the color fades or changes. The green stink bug reacts to falling temperatures with a red dye, so that the animals have a brownish winter coat. Stink bugs grow up to 15 millimeters long and have the broad dorsal shield typical of bedbugs. Their life expectancy is twelve to 14 months. However, they reproduce quickly: a female can lay up to 450 eggs – so it’s better to drive them out of the apartment quickly.
How do you get rid of stink bugs in the house?
If you find a single stink bug in your house or apartment, you should not kill or crush it. As a defense, she sprays an unpleasant-smelling secretion. If it gets stuck in textiles, it smells really bad. The vacuum cleaner should also not be used. Instead, it is better to carefully capture the small animals with a glass or hand broom and release them back into the wild.
Keep stink bugs away
The best thing to do is to ensure that stink bugs don’t get inside the house in the first place. A vinegar mixture can help: Simply mix water, vinegar and dishwashing liquid in a ratio of 4:2:1 and spray on window and door frames. You can also spray the animals directly with the solution – it doesn’t harm them, but it deters them. The animals also don’t like smelling other strong-smelling essences – such as clove oil, salmiac or ammonia.
If you get regular visits from stink bugs, you should consider installing fly nets or screens on your windows. They also keep other pests away. It can also help to turn off the lights when ventilating. Like other insects, stink bugs are attracted to warmth and light.
Stink bugs also like to get lost in the kitchen – preferably in fruit baskets. Because the animals feed exclusively on plant sap. So cover fruit baskets even in autumn.
By the way: The increased occurrence of stink bugs is also a consequence of climate change. The hot and dry summers of recent years have provided the animals with the perfect conditions to continue to reproduce.