How To Get Rid of Stink Bugs

Stink Bugs do not damage your property, but they do enter homes when the weather gets cooler. They gather in large numbers on the sides of houses and buildings in the late fall and enter structures to find a place to overwinter (hibernate).

Ehrlich’s solution for stink bugs includes:

• create a barrier around your home to try to keep stink bugs outside
• reduce the number of stink bugs on your property
• offer practical advice on how to get rid of stink bugs from your home.

How To Get Rid of Stink Bugs in Your Home

As outside temperatures begin to cool, stink bugs enter homes seeking warmth to try to survive.

Stink bugs can work their way into our homes through various entry points (cracks and crevices) including:

• under siding
• around door and window frames
• utility pipes
• chimneys
• attic vents
• under fascia
• crawl spaces

Once stink bugs are inside your home, they can access living space via gaps around light fixtures and under baseboards.
As a home owner you can do a number of things to prevent stink bugs.

Protect Your Home from Stink Bugs 

We recommend you make the following checks and repairs to your property in late Spring / Summer prior to the Fall and the start of overwintering behaviour.

• Seal holes in exterior walls larger than the diameter of a pencil.
• Seal gaps and cracks around door and window frames.
• Install door sweeps.
• Ensure doors and windows are tight-fitting.
• Screen exterior attic openings / vents.
• Seal entry points with caulk or good quality silicone sealant (including around chimneys).

How to Remove Stink Bugs from your Home

• Remove both live and dead stink bugs with a vacuum cleaner - the vacuum may smell like stink bugs for a period of time.
• Sweep the stink bugs up using a broom and dust pan and discard them in an outdoor trash receptacle.

Once inside your home, stink bugs will go into a state of hibernation. They will not reproduce, which means there is no risk of the number of stink bugs multiplying.

However, warm winter days or heating may trigger stink bug activity indoors, so you may see some of these bugs around your home in winter.

Do Stink Bugs Bite? 

Although they may look menacing, stink bugs will not harm people and they do not bite. They do, however, release a strong odor as a defensive mechanism.

The brown marmorated stink bug originally from Asia, is now present in at least 33 states and as far west as Oregon and California. It is a serious agricultural pest and because they need to move indoors in winter, is also becoming a major nuisance pest to homeowners and business owners.

Getting Rid of Stink Bugs Professionally

At Ehrlich, we’ve been helping and advising people on how to get rid of stink bugs on their property since they were first identified in Allentown, PA in 2001.

Although there are many stink bug traps and pest control products on the market, these only capture the bugs and don’t help to prevent them from entering your home.

Ehrlich’s Solution for Stink Bugs

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) – this method focuses on exclusion methods first. We will identify stink bug entry points around your home and work with you to address them.

Fall Insecticide Treatment – Licensed technicians will treat the outside of your home, which will aim to reduce the stink bug population on your property. Two treatments are carried out in the Fall and applied to external areas of your property, including behind shutters, along foundation, eaves and exterior lighting.

Call Ehrlich at 1-800-837-5520 for more information on how to get rid of stink bugs or schedule a FREE pest inspection.