The hits just keep coming, in the form of more unwelcomed six-legged visitors whose real home is across the waters.
A tide of invasive bugs has washed over our Ravinia neighborhood Pewaukee and Wisconsin in the past two decades: the Japanese beetle and Asian beetle to name a few. All are resident 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 stink.
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 traveling west since being first discovered in Pennsylvania in 2001.
Its name is well-deserved. When disturbed or crushed, the brown marmorated stink bug emits a strong, creature you'd invite into your Ravinia house, right?
Fortunately, the brown marmorated insect hasn't arrived in great numbers in Ravinia or Wisconsin. Stink bug control isn't much of an issue yet. Yet it's only a matter of time.
Farmers dislike them for more than their smell. 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 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 Ravinia your house. If you step on one, you'll figure it out quickly. The nose knows. If you see more in your Ravinia house or yard, don't crush them – contact The Mosquito Guy to address their presence in a safe, non-smelly fashion. Unlike these bugs, we'll never stink up your joint.