by Derrick |
Last Updated: September 16, 2022 Stink bugs aren’t harmful, but you still don’t want any in your home, especially if they start to smell. You may notice that when you find a stink bug, it stays in one spot without moving. Why do stink bugs stay in one spot?
Stink bugs stay in one spot when they find a place with light, warmth, or the other things they’re attracted to, like another stink bug. Once a stink bug finds something they’re attracted to, they won’t move until the thing they’re drawn to goes away or they’re removed from the spot.
This article explains the most common reasons stink bugs don’t move and how you can get rid of them when you find them in your home or other places you don’t want them. It will also explain how to prevent stink bugs from coming back into your home once you get rid of them.
Reasons Stink Bugs Do Not Move
Stink bugs don’t move because they’ve found a place they like, and they don’t want to leave. When they’re drawn to a place with one or more things that attract them, they’ll stay there until they’re exterminated, or the factor that attracted them to the place disappears.
Many things attract stink bugs, including warmth, lights, other stink bugs, and wood. We’ll explain all these things in detail in this section.
Warmth
First, stink bugs are common in the winter when the weather is cold outside, and they need a warm place to go. Your home is warm, which is why they stay there once they get in instead of being outside.
Not only does their attraction to warmth mean they want to be inside your home, but it also means they want to find warm places within your home. They’re attracted to furnaces, heat vents, and even hot water, so you may see them in your shower.
Lights
Furthermore, like many bugs, stink bugs are attracted to lights. When they find a place with lights, like your lamp, a porch light, or anything else that’s constantly lit up, they’ll stay near that place until the light goes off. Then they’ll move on to find somewhere else with light.
You can also use this to your advantage when trying to get rid of them. If you see a stink bug somewhere where you can’t reach it, kill all the lights except one where you want the bug to go. Chances are the stink bug will move to the light; there, you’ll be able to catch and kill (or remove) it.
Congregation With Other Stink Bugs
Another reason stink bugs don’t move is that they found a group of other stink bugs. When stink bugs move, they leave a scent behind that other stink bugs are attracted to and are inclined to follow.
Stink bugs like to congregate in groups, so they’ll stay with each other and not move when they find other stink bugs. So, if you see one stink bug in your home, you should get rid of it as soon as possible. If you leave it there, other bugs will follow, which will lead to a huge infestation problem.
Wood
Finally, stink bugs are attracted to wood. Unfortunately, this means stink bugs are going to hide in your walls or your attic if they can find a way in. Or, if you have a barn, shed, or other similar structure made of wood, you’re likely going to find stink bugs in there.
You should check these areas for stink bugs if you suspect they have found a way in, or you find a crack where bugs could enter.
How To Remove Stink Bugs
You should remove stink bugs as soon as you find them since the number of them will only increase over time. Here are a few methods you can use to easily get rid of stink bugs.
If there are only one or two stink bugs and they’re easy to reach, you can grab them in a cup or paper towel and let them go outside. If you want to kill them to ensure they don’t go back into your home, do it outside, away from your home and any people. They do smell, so you want to walk away as soon as they’re dead.
You can also vacuum up stink bugs. Using a vacuum to eliminate them is a good method if the bugs are in a hard-to-reach place. But, you need to make sure you clean out your vacuum as soon as you’re done sucking up the bugs. They’ll start to smell quickly when they die, and you don’t want that smell to sit in your vacuum.
Finally, you can use a stink bug spray, such as the Terro Stink Bug Killer (available on Amazon.com). You should only use this if you don’t have pets or small children. The spray kills the stink bugs as soon as you spray it, and it’ll stay on the surface and kill any future stink bugs for up to six weeks. You can use it inside and outside, and it’s also odor-free.
This YouTube video from Solutions Pest and Lawn explains how to get rid of stink bugs if you have a lot of them in your house:
How To Prevent Stink Bugs
Now that you have removed any stink bugs, you want to prevent any more from coming into your home in the future. This section explains how to do that effectively.
First, make sure you don’t have any cracks or other openings in your home, such as near windows, doors, and vents. Cracks in your home are the most common way bugs get inside, so this is the best prevention measure.
This YouTube video from Solutions Pest and Lawn explains how to seal cracks in your home for stink bug prevention and what else you can do to keep them out:
Finally, remove any stink bugs as soon as you spot them. One stink bug will attract another one which attracts another one. Before you know it, you’ll have a whole colony of stink bugs which is much harder to get rid of than one.
Final Thoughts
Stink bugs stay in one place because they have found something they were attracted to, and now they don’t want to leave that particular thing. The most common things that attract stink bugs are heat, light, wood, and other stink bugs.
You have to get rid of stink bugs in your home immediately and take preventive measures to keep them from returning. If you allow stink bugs to stay in your home for too long, they’ll attract others, and it’ll be harder to get rid of them (and the horrible smell that comes with them).