Stink bugs tend to leave discolored and sunken spots when they pierce plants. You can see this show up as stippled leaves, dimpled, or “cat-faced” fruit, and scarred pods.
There are weird marks on the tomatoes or apples. You want to know if the stink bugs did it. Luckily, it’s easy to tell when you have a stink bug problem.
Stink bugs do different things to different plants. But they’re pretty easy to spot once you know what to look for. On leaves, you'll see small stippled or speckled spots, sometimes with yellowing, where the bug tapped into the tissue. Foliage damage is usually minor compared to what shows up on fruit.
If you have tomatoes and peppers, look for cloudy, pale yellow or whitish spots. You’ll find them just under the skin, and they often have a tiny dimple at the center. If you cut one open you may find spongy, white, corky tissue beneath the spot.
For tree fruit (apples, pears, peaches), the classic sign is “cat-facing,” dimpled, and puckered areas that look distorted, plus sunken corky spots that leave fruit lumpy. On beans, okra, and other pods, expect pitting and scarring, sometimes warty bumps, and occasionally shriveled or aborted seeds inside.
Unlike fungal disease, stink bug damage centers on distinct puncture points rather than spreading lesions or fuzzy growth. Unlike chewing insects such as beetles or caterpillars, there are no holes and no missing tissue. The surface stays intact while the damage shows as scarring at and below the puncture. And if you spot the bugs themselves, shield-shaped and brown, nearby, that settles it.
The fruit will look bad when damaged, but is fine to eat once you trim marked areas. Still, even if the damage alone is something you can live with, it’s worth doing something about the stink bugs before the weather turns. They like to overwinter inside and they smell awful when crushed, so you don’t want to share a home with them if you can avoid it.
If you're tired of stink bugs leaving their mark on every harvest, Mosquito Squad of North Shore can help. Mosquito Squad offers perimeter treatments that help reduce stink bugs around your garden and home. These are applied by a trained technician alongside the barrier service that also provides an up to 90% reduction in mosquito activity on a 21-day cycle.
