The hits just keep coming, in the form of more unwelcomed six-legged visitors whose real home is across the oceans.
A mass of offensive insects has washed over our Union Grove neighborhood Pewaukee and Wisconsin in the past 2 decades: the emerald ash borer and Asian beetle to name a few. All are innate to foreign countries. All have caused environmental and economic mayhem in the U.S., 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 migrating 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, odor guaranteed to wrinkle your nose. Probably not a {visitor you'd invite into your Union Grove home, right?
Fortunately, the brown marmorated stink bug hasn't arrived in great numbers in Union Grove 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 smell. The insects 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 cousin 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 Union Grove homes. If you step on one, you'll figure it out quickly. The nose knows. If you see more in your Union Grove home or yard, don't step on them – contact The Mosquito Guy to address their presence in a safe, non-smelly fashion. Unlike these insects, we'll never stink up your joint.