Stink bugs are making their presence known in and outside Connecticut homes this fall.
In almost 60 years of living in their Hamden home, Bill and Ginnie King said they’ve only had an issue with bugs three times, but this year is by far the worst.
"I don’t like these bugs. They’re ugly looking and there’s just something really icky about them," Ginnie King said.
As their name suggests, they also give off an unpleasant odor when you kill them.
“They were all over the place. On the gutters, the liters, and all the windows and screens,” Bill King said.
He added that their home was bombarded by the bugs earlier in the week when it was unseasonably warm.
Dr. Gale Ridge of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven said the warm weather earlier in the week sparked the insect invasion.
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"That’s a signal to them that they need to seek cover before the weather cools down," said Ridge.
The cooler weather and breeze helped keep the bugs at bay on Friday but there were still some lurking in and out of their home. Just down the road from the Kings’ home is an orchard. Experts said stink bugs love fruit, but it’s the weather that’s attracting them inside peoples’ homes.
"If they were outside the winter would kill them, that’s why they seek shelter inside," Ridge explained.
Nancy Carney in Wallingford has them in her home too.
"I have them on my bed. I have them on the ceiling, I have them in the windows. I have them unexpectedly in the halls," Carney said. "I’ll be taking a shower and all of a sudden I shut off the shower and get out and there they are inside the shower."
She said once in the middle of the night she almost drank one stuck in a water bottle she had next to her bed.
"I took a sip out of it and the next morning when I came downstairs and it had been caught right in the spout and there I had been drinking out of it," she explained.
They don’t make noise, so unlike a bee or a fly someone may not know they’re there until they see one. The good news is they don’t bite or sting.
"They’re perfectly harmless. They will not eat anything they will not drink anything. They’re just using the building to protect themselves from the winter weather," said Ridge.
Carney and the Kings would like to open their windows and enjoy the cool crisp autumn air, but that’s hard to do when these bugs are waiting to get inside.
"It’s pretty annoying because we never know when they’re going to appear or when they’re going to disappear," Ginnie King said.
Ridge said the bugs usually disappear once the cold weather settles in.
"Caulk around windows, cracks and crevices. Make sure the screening is tight. Physically exclude the insects," she suggested.
Also, don’t squish or vacuum them up. Ridge said stink bugs have a strong sweet musky smell that will permeate the home.
