Latest Wisconsin Insect: Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

The hits just keep coming, in the form of more unwelcomed 6-legged visitors whose real home is across the seas.

A tide of persistent bugs has washed over our McHenry County neighborhood Pewaukee and Wisconsin in the past two decades: the emerald ash borer and Asian beetle to name a few. All are innate to foreign countries. All have caused environmental and economic havoc in the U.S., where no natural predators exist to control them.

The most recent 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 migrating west since being first discovered in Pennsylvania in 2001.

Its name is well-deserved. When smushed or stepped on, the brown marmorated stink bug emits a strong, creature you'd invite into your McHenry County house, right?

Fortunately, the brown marmorated insect hasn't arrived in large numbers in McHenry County or Wisconsin. Stink bug control isn't much of an issue yet. Yet it's only a matter of time.

Farmers hate them for more than their smell. The insects 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 family member that is native to the U.S. The insect 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 McHenry County your house. If you step on one, you'll figure it out quickly. The nose knows. If you see more in your McHenry County home or yard, don't smush 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.