Stink Bugs
Having pests eat your crops can be exceedingly annoying but what’s worse is the pest that is known as the stink bug since it doesn’t only damage your crops it can also stink up your house. The stink bugs are part of the Pentatomoidea family and they are generally known for the awful stench that they release whenever they are threatened. This stench is caused by the liquid that its glands release. These stink glands are usually located in between its front legs and back legs.
The stinky liquid that they release can be compared to the musk that skunks release since these substances can stay on a surface for extended periods of time since they have a tendency to stick to carbon molecules. This means that it is incredibly hard to get rid of the stench that these stink bugs release. Stink bugs become even bigger problems since they can migrate inside houses if the weather becomes too cold. This is caused by their instinct to find a warm place during winter so that they can go into a state of suspended animation until spring comes. However, since houses are usually heated they get fooled into thinking that it is already spring and they end up flying around inside houses during winter.
Stink bugs may be notoriously known for their disgusting stench but they are also very damaging when it comes to crops. A stink bug won’t munch on leaves like other pests; instead they suck on the juices of certain fruits and vegetables. It doesn’t seem like taking some of the juices inside the fruit can damage them too much considering the size of these insects but since they are puncturing the outer layer of fruits, they expose them to the atmosphere which in turn ruins the crops.
More often than not, crops that have been tampered with by these bugs are usually unsalable since the puncture marks are going to be very obvious. What makes the problem worse is the fact that these pests are very inefficient when it comes to eating. They will literally jump from crop to crop, eating and damaging a many crops as they can. This means that they will not choose one fruit and eat it until they are full. Instead, they will suck on one fruit and quickly move on to other.
The reason why stink bugs aren’t considered as dangerous pests is the fact that they are easily killed by the pesticides that most farmers use. The only problem lies in detecting these foul insects. In the United States, it can be quite easy to spot these bugs since the stink bugs there are usually brown in color which can be quickly spotted when they are on green crops.
These bugs also migrate into houses and that is one reason why it can be quickly apparent if you are infested with these bugs since they will get inside the houses. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to find a stink bug in Asia since they are usually color green in most Asian countries. Another reason why it is hard to determine if your farm is infested is the fact that it is very warm in Asian countries and they won’t be forced to migrate into houses.