Something stinks in several Connecticut towns. An invasive Asian insect called the stink bug has shown up in at least eight municipalities, entomologists at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station said.
The small bug, which releases an odor when disturbed, has damaged fruit and vegetable crops in several states.
The bugs don't bite, but they hide inside during cold weather and are expected to reappear outside in big numbers this spring, Agricultural Experiment Station director Louis Magnarelli said.
According to Cornell University, the little buggers hitchhiked in cargo containers from Asia and have popped up in New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware. Now they’ve moved north.
White bands on its antennae distinguish the Asian bug from common northeastern stink bugs, which do not cause widespread crop damage like their cousins.
Cornell researchers said you can identify the brown-marmorated stink bugs because they are “shield-shaped, dark, ‘marbled’ brown insects, about three-quarters of an inch long.”
Their antennae might have alternating dark and light patterns, along with white and black markings along the rear edges of the abdomen and patches of coppery or bluish metallic-colored punctures on the head and remainder of body, according to the university.
