The hits just keep coming, in the form of more uninvited six-legged visitors whose real home is across the waters.
A surge of persistent bugs has washed over our West Lake Forest neighborhood Pewaukee and Wisconsin in the past two decades: the Japanese beetle and gypsy moth 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 latest 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 traveling west since being first discovered in Pennsylvania in 2001.
Its name is well-earned. When disturbed or stepped on, the brown marmorated stink bug emits an awful, overpowering you'd invite into your West Lake Forest home, right?
Fortunately, the brown marmorated insect hasn't arrived in large numbers in West Lake Forest or WI. 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 stink. 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 relative 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 West Lake Forest your house. If you step on one, you'll figure it out quickly. The nose knows. If you see more in your West Lake Forest home or yard, don't smush 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.