Latest Wisconsin Insect: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

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

A tide of annoying species has washed over our Lake Barrington neighborhood Pewaukee and Wisconsin in the past two decades: the emerald ash borer and Asian beetle to name a few. All are native to foreign countries. All have caused environmental and economic mayhem in the United States, where no natural predators exist to control them.

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

The brown marmorated insect 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 migrating west since being first discovered in Pennsylvania in 2001.

Its name is well-earned. When smushed or crushed, the brown marmorated stink bug emits an awful, odor guaranteed to wrinkle your nose. Probably not a {visitor you'd invite into your Lake Barrington home, right?

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

Farmers hate them for more than their odor. The stink bug feast 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 relative that is native to the United States. The insect 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 Lake Barrington your house. If you smush one, you'll figure it out quickly. The nose knows. If you see more in your Lake Barrington 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 Lake Barrington, IL