Subject:  What is this?
Geographic location of the bug:  Virginia
Date: 05/01/2019
Time: 07:09 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hello. I was wondering what kind of bug this is. I found it in my garden of pansies and daisies. I have never seen one before. I’m not sure if it flies or not, it was just crawling around on the wood that borders my garden.
How you want your letter signed:  Brieanna

Lablab Bug

Dear Virginia,
This is a Lablab Bug, Megacopta cribraria, an invasive species accidentally introduced from China.  According to BugGuide:  “earliest record in our area: GA 2009 may invade homes in large numbers and become a household pest.”  Additionally, according to BugGuide, it is a significant agricultural pest because:  “hosts: in the US, reported to develop only on soybean and kudzu – Univ. FL, 2012.  Primary hosts are Fabaceae. It has also been reported on plants from other families, such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn and cotton.”  The advantage it provided by feeding on invasive kudzu weed is far outweighed by its negative attributes.  Since its introduction a scant ten years ago, BugGuide now reports it from Maryland to Florida and west to Arkansas. 

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Subject:  Hi I really want to know what this bug is thank you so much
Geographic location of the bug:  North georgia, usa
Date: 03/29/2019
Time: 03:29 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I found a bug and I read that deathwatch beetles are a sign of bad omens. I’m hoping its can you tell me what bug this is? Thank you so much.
How you want your letter signed:  Kevin Kang (superstitious guy)

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

Dear Kevin,
According to BugGuide, the larvae of Deathwatch Beetles are wood borers, but there is no mention about “bad omens.”  This is a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, an invasive exotic species, that bad omen or not, poses a significant threat to North American agriculture.  Since its introduction in 1998, it has spread across the entire North American continent.

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Subject:  Stink bug?
Geographic location of the bug:  Framingham, MA
Date: 02/14/2019
Time: 03:30 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hello Bugman!
My daughter reached out to me with pics of an insect she and her hubby are finding in their new home in Framingham, MA. Apparently with the cold weather, they’re finding an increasing number of these critters around the windowsills. They look suspiciously like stink bugs, yet I’ve seen other similar-looking insects that are not stink bugs.
Please advise. Thank you!
How you want your letter signed:  Kenda

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

Hi Kenda,
This is indeed a Stink Bug.  It is an invasive, exotic Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, an Asian species first discovered in Allentown, Pennsylvania in the late 1990s, and it has now spread across North America.  It poses a serious threat to agriculture as it is known to feed from over 300 different plant species.  According to BugGuide:  “n the US, reported to damage apples, pears, peaches, cherries, corn, tomatoes, peppers, soybean, ornamentals…”  Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs frequently enter homes to hibernate when the weather cools.  They will not harm the home, but they are a nuisance if they are plentiful.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

Thank you, Daniel. What would you suggest to be the least harmful way to remove them from the home? Should my daughter and son-in-law be concerned about eggs in and around the home or do the Stink Bugs lay on specific plants/crops?
Grazie mille!
Kenda

Hi Kenda,
When it comes to invasive species like the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, we have no reservations about squashing individuals found in the home.  If you are concerned about not harming the bug, the best way to remove it is with a martini glass or wine glass.  Trap the insect in the vessel and slip a postcard under the rim and then transport the insect outside.  We use that method with stinging insects and any that we do not want to handle either because they might bite or because they are especially delicate.  We doubt they will lay eggs in the home, and the list of outdoor plants upon which they will feed is quite extensive, so we are presuming something they will eat is growing in your daughter’s yard.

Update:  February 17, 2019
A Facebook comment by Fern mentioned this New Yorker article where it states:  “What makes the brown marmorated stinkbug unique, though, is not just its tendency to congregate in extremely large numbers but the fact that it boasts a peculiar and unwelcome kind of versatility. Very few household pests destroy crops; fleas and bedbugs are nightmarish, but not if you’re a field of corn. Conversely, very few agricultural pests pose a problem indoors; you’ll seldom hear of people confronting a swarm of boll weevils in their bedroom. But the brown marmorated stinkbug has made a name for itself by simultaneously threatening millions of acres of American farmland and grossing out the occupants of millions of American homes.”

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Subject:  Gerald
Geographic location of the bug:  Duxbury, Massachusetts
Date: 01/10/2019
Time: 12:53 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hello Mr. Bugman,
My friends and I have enjoyed our chemistry class while watching our friend Gerald, a dead bug, who passed away a week ago. I am truly hurt that he was killed, but he brings us good luck to every class. He was very near and dear to my heart, and I would love to know what bug he is. R.I.P. Gerald <3
How you want your letter signed:  Thanks!

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

We are sorry for the loss of your good luck mascot, but alas, Gerald is a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, an invasive, exotic species that was first reported from Pennsylvania at the end of the 20th Century and has now spread across much of the North American continent.  Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs frequently enter homes to hibernate.  Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs pose a significant threat to agriculture, and according to BugGuide:  “Highly polyphagous, reported on ~300 plant spp. in its native range; feeds mostly on fruit, but also on leaves, stems, petioles, flowers, and seeds. Damage typically confined to fruiting structures” and “in the US, reported to damage apples, pears, peaches, cherries, corn, tomatoes, peppers, soybean, ornamentals…”

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