Daniel:
I am needing a little guidance from you. In the last 2 nights, I have discovered 2 large shiny green bugs in my bed! They were about 3/4 of an inch long and about 1/2 inch wide and look like a beetle variety. They have long legs and do emit an odor when I was chasing it. Both times, they were crawling on my bed and I heard them flying about my room. I don’t know if they are stink bugs, since I know other bugs do emit odors. I am wondering what I can do to get rid of these pests because I don’t want to get back into bed! Please help me.
April
Dear April,
Though you provided no geographical information which could help in my identification of local species, I think your guess that the large shiny green bugs in your bed might be stink bugs could be correct. Here in Los Angeles, we have two species of green stink bugs belonging to the family Pentatomidae, both of the genus Chlorochroa, from the Greek chlôros which means "yellow-green". They are the same general size that you describe.
Stinkbugs are true bugs, not beetles since they undergo incomplete, not complete metamorphosis. They are not shiny like a tiger beetle, but they are a vivid green. Tiger beetles, family Cicindelidae, are often a shiny, metalic green or blue green, and have very long legs that they use to chase down their prey. They are good fliers, often being mistaken for flies, but they like sunny weather and don’t emit an offensive odor. Stink bugs, on the other hand do emit an offensive odor as a defense mechanism, and are often attracted to lights at night, which could explain how they wound up in your bed. Probably the last lights you turned off in the house before retiring were in your bedroom, luring the stink bugs to your bed. Conserving electricity by keeping fewer lights on in the home might keep unwanted visitors from your bed.