# Argh! What are these nasty bugs and how do I get rid of them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 24, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argh-what-are-these-nasty-bugs-and-how-do-i-get-rid-of-them/565302 "2010-12-24T19:01:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argh-what-are-these-nasty-bugs-and-how-do-i-get-rid-of-them/565302/21 "2010-12-26T12:06:05Z")
They must be foreign imports - Southern bugs don’t go out when there’s snow on the ground! Maybe they bought the last of the bread and milk and are holed up until Snowpocalypse is over. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argh-what-are-these-nasty-bugs-and-how-do-i-get-rid-of-them/565302/22 "2010-12-26T15:20:38Z")
**Zsofia** , you said you drown them in a wine glass. Can you set up said glass tonight and in the morning, fish them out, lay them on a plain piece of printer paper and snap some photos? Maybe some with them spread out, other curled up, etc? I know it sounds gross, but it sounds like some posters (not me) would be able to ID them with a picture. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argh-what-are-these-nasty-bugs-and-how-do-i-get-rid-of-them/565302/23 "2010-12-26T15:28:40Z")
I’ve been being good about my diet and only drinking outside the house lately, actually! Will procure a bottle today For Science. (White would, I suppose, be more scientific.) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argh-what-are-these-nasty-bugs-and-how-do-i-get-rid-of-them/565302/24 "2010-12-26T19:39:06Z")
The Christmas Truce is over - no more playing soccer in the trenches! I just saw one hanging out on the coffee table. (Which is the same color as the roach, so now I have a picture of a big brown blur that may, somewhere within it, contain a smaller brown blur. Sorry. I’m trying.) ---
**Author:** ![mikews99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@mikews99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikews99)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argh-what-are-these-nasty-bugs-and-how-do-i-get-rid-of-them/565302/25 "2010-12-27T05:51:34Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > (Sometimes when I go to bed I leave a glass with a sip of wine in it as a honey trap and always find ten or fifteen dead ones in it in the morning. > > . . . > > I just saw one hanging out on the coffee table. (Which is the same color as the roach, so now I have a picture of a big brown blur that may, somewhere within it, contain a smaller brown blur. Sorry. I’m trying.) Set out a glass, capture some bugs, photograph the dead ones. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argh-what-are-these-nasty-bugs-and-how-do-i-get-rid-of-them/565302/26 "2010-12-27T14:04:31Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > Might they be [stinkbugs](http://www.ent.iastate.edu/imagegal/hemiptera/stinkbug/brown_stink_bug_adult.html)? We were overrun by them in Maryland this summer, and nothing but squashing them seemed to help. Slight hijack here: not only does _squashing_ brown marmorated stink bugs cause them to release their stink, [it’s recommended](http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/brown-marmorated-stink-bug) that you not kill them in other ways as well: > [@](#): > > It is not advisable to use an insecticide inside after the insects have gained access to the wall voids or attic areas. Although insecticidal dust treatments to these voids may kill hundreds of bugs, there is the possibility that carpet beetles will feed on the dead stink bugs and subsequently attack woolens, stored dry goods or other natural products in the home. Although aerosol-type pyrethrum foggers will kill stink bugs that have amassed on ceilings and walls in living areas, it will not prevent more of the insects from emerging shortly after the room is aerated. For this reason use of these materials is not considered a good solution to long-term management of the problem. Spray insecticides, directed into cracks and crevices, will not prevent the bugs from emerging and is not a viable or recommended treatment. Note that killing them in the walls has the potential to attract the much more destructive (to your home, anyway) carpet beetles. The recommended solution for brown marmorated stink bugs is removal alive, followed by sealing up openings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/argh-what-are-these-nasty-bugs-and-how-do-i-get-rid-of-them/565302.md?page=1)