10. Stink Bug
Come fall, you may be finding that you are sharing your home with a putrid little pest known as the stink bug. Aside from their smelly odor, the stink bug really isn’t harmful to us humans. This doesn’t make them any less annoying, though. Most commonly described as having a shield-shaped brown body these stinky bugs will destroy your gardens in the spring and summer, then just let themselves in for the fall and winter. They’ll find their way in your house through any crack or opening whatsoever. This includes vents found in your attic, chimneys, damaged window screens, small cracks around windows and doors, gaps in your piping, etc. You’ll want to seal as many of those openings as possible in your house and add weather stripping to doorways, caulk-up cracks, what have you to help keep the bugs out. The female will have already laid her eggs outside in the summer, underneath the leaves of plants around your house. It may be a good idea to keep your eye out for these eggs during the summer, so you don’t have as much of an infestation in the fall.
In the event of an infestation, unfortunately, there really isn’t a whole lot you can do about stink bugs that rank 10th in our list of most annoying bugs found in your house, but on the bright side, they’re basically just hibernating through the cold months, so they won’t be eating, reproducing, moving… they won’t be doing much of anything in your house until warmer months when they start looking for their way out. An exterminator might be your best bet if you can’t stand knowing they’re lurking in your home. You can always try out some natural remedies to try to keep the stink bug population under control year-round. Like many insects, stink bugs are naturally repelled by the smell of garlic. You could boil garlic powder, minced garlic or garlic cloves in water and then spray your garlic solution by your garden and around any opening you might find them trying to get in your house from. Another safe and effective method would be to sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth around windows and other places you might find them hanging out in your home, then just vacuum up the dead bugs and flush ‘em!
