Stink bugs stay active until sustained cold shuts them down, which usually happens in October or sometimes a mild November.
Stink bugs are annoying and you don’t want them in your house. It’s useful to know, then, that they don’t so much end their season as they change jobs. You can use this knowledge to your advantage.
In late summer and early autumn, stink bugs start feeding. This often means going after garden tomatoes and peppers, orchard fruit, and ornamental plants. They’re building reserves for the months ahead. They won’t feed again until spring.
In early fall, you will notice that stink bugs like to gather on light-colored, sun-warmed walls. These are often the ones facing south or west. This tends to happen after it warms up a bit following the first cold snap, around mid-September, sometimes October. While there, they start to work their way into the home through openings like window trim cracks, siding seams, soffit and roofline gaps, vents, and utility line penetrations. When in the home, they settle into wall voids and attics as the cold comes.
By the time freezing temperatures come, bugs are generally either overwintering in your home or nowhere to be found. This is when things will be quiet. But when there is a warm spell in winter, say January or February, stink bugs will appear, seemingly out of nowhere, on windows and light fixtures. If this happens, it’s because you already have an infestation and they’re trying to get back outside by following the light (which doesn’t usually work well for them).
For you, this means your best bet is to seal entry gaps in early September. This is how you keep stink bugs from getting inside in the first place. You can also further discourage them by having a pest control company do a perimeter treatment.
Don’t want stink bugs in your house? Mosquito Squad of Metro Detroit can help. Mosquito Squad's home and yard coverage treats the perimeter before stink bugs try to overwinter in your home.
