How Georgia Residents Can Keep Kudzu Bugs And Stink Bugs Out Of Their Home
The fall and winter seasons see insect pests entering homes and buildings in order to avoid the coming winter cold. This is why it is important for homeowners in the state to begin taking preventative measures against insect infestations during the summer months. Two invasive insect species, Kudzu bugs and stink bugs, often gravitate into Georgia homes during the fall and winter season, but stink bugs can become a household nuisance at any time of the year in the state.
Kudzu bugs are native to Asia, but these insects were found in Georgia for the first time in 2009. Although Kudzu bugs are considered invasive pests for the destruction they cause to agricultural crops, these insects can also become a nuisance in structures during the months of October, November and even into the winter, depending on the climate. The brown marmorated stink bug is similar to the Kudzu bug in many ways, as the stink bug is also an invasive crop pest that hails from Asia. Much like Kudzu bugs, stink bugs tend to establish a nuisance presence within homes during the fall and winter seasons. Since these two bugs often overwinter within walls inside homes and buildings, their decaying corpses can attract other insect pests into homes during the spring and summer. In order to prevent these bugs from entering your home, it is necessary to recognize their features.
Kudzu bugs are dark-colored and bulbous insects that typically grow to be around one third to one fourth of an inch in body length. These insects also have noticeable red eyes and dotted wings. Unfortunately, Kudzu bugs can emit an unpleasant odor that can become pervasive within the homes that they infest. The brown marmorated stink bug, much like its common name suggests, also emits a foul odor when threatened or squished. These brown-colored bugs grow to be around five eighths of an inch in length and they possess distinctive white-striped antennae.
Both of these pest species often invade homes in large numbers, but sealing the cracks, holes and other access points around a home’s foundation can go a long way to preventing infestations once the fall season arrives. Kudzu bugs become active during February and March in Georgia, so they can also become a household problem during the summer, but rarely during the coldest months of winter. Properly screened windows and door sweeps are effective at preventing Kudzu bugs and stink bugs from entering homes, but due the stink bug’s narrow body, it can enter cracks in a home’s foundation that are as small as one eighth of an inch in width. Heavy infestations are best handled by a qualified pest controller, but residents can vacuum up stink bugs in order to remove them without causing a literal stink.
Have you ever found a Kudzu bug within or near your home?
