Latest Wisconsin Pest: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

The hits just keep coming, in the form of more uninvited six-legged visitors whose real home is across the oceans.

A surge of persistent bugs has washed over our Vernon neighborhood Pewaukee and Wisconsin in the past two decades: the Japanese beetle and Asian beetle to name a few. All are native to foreign countries. All have caused environmental and economic havoc in the United States, where no natural predators exist to control them.

The latest invader winging its way here will literally make a smell.

The brown marmorated stink bug is ¾-inch long, with a wide back side that tapers to a point, and a rectangular head with long antennae. Native to China and east Asia, the insect has been journeying west since being first discovered in Pennsylvania in 2001.

Its name is well-deserved. When smushed or stepped on, the brown marmorated stink bug emits an awful, pungent you'd invite into your Vernon home, right?

Fortunately, the brown marmorated insect hasn't arrived in large numbers in Vernon or Wisconsin. Stink bug control isn't much of an issue yet. Yet it's only a matter of time.

Farmers abhor them for more than their smell. The stink bug feed on tree fruits, vegetables, sweet corn and soybeans. Mid-Atlantic apple growers sustained an estimated $37 million in crop losses in 2010 to marmorated stink bugs.

The Asian invasive has a family member that is native to the U.S. The brown stink bug looks a lot like the brown marmorated version, except the colors of their undersides are different. We somehow doubt you'll get that far identifying them, though.

Brown marmorated stink bugs like to winter inside Vernon homes. If you smush one, you'll figure it out quickly. The nose knows. If you see more in your Vernon house or yard, don't step on them – contact The Mosquito Guy to address their presence in a safe, non-stinky fashion.  Unlike these insects, we'll never stink up your joint.

Getting Rid of The Unwanted Insect: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug near Vernon, WI