This is an old revision of the document!
Stink Bug Info
Collected from a Lexington email group discussion February 2020.
(Information from Michael Smith -- thank you!!)
Many are agriculturally and/or ornamentally significant because of the plant damage they inflict, especially to crops. If you can positively ID the bug in your house as a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB), or one of the other very damaging invasive insects, then yes, plz destroy it.
NB: There are *some* beneficial stink bug species that actually feed on other crop-damaging insects. These should not be killed, but rather, released unharmed.
E.g., one of the beneficial stink bug species is the Spined Soldier Bug (Podisus maculiventris).
The spined soldier bug is a species of insect common in North America. They are predators of gypsy moth caterpillars and the larvae of beetles such as the Colorado potato beetle and the Mexican bean beetle. Wikipedia
Scientific name: Podisus maculiventris
Phylum: Arthropoda
Higher classification: Podisus
Order: True bugs
Rank: Species
Family: Pentatomidae
See Spined Soldier Bug vs. Beet Armyworm
https://images.app.goo.gl/qaMmsEaoV327WZDA8
FOR INFO ON STINK BUG CONTROL:
https://www.pestworld.org/pest-guide/occasional-invaders/stink-bugs/
TO ID LOOK-ALIKE INSECTS:
https://www.stopbmsb.org/stink-bug-basics/look-alike-insects/
(Also, for more comprehensive details, scroll down to ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & click on “Field Guide to Stink Bugs” .)
(from Katherine Pike)
Conifer Seed Bug vs. Stink Bug
https://www.modernpest.com/blog/stink-bug-western-conifer-seed-bug-house/