# Stink Bugs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink-bugs/523829 "2010-01-06T00:48:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink-bugs/523829/1 "2010-01-06T00:48:05Z")
How bad can one squashed stink bug stink? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink-bugs/523829/2 "2010-01-06T02:43:40Z")
Have you ever done it? Stink bugs, as I know them, smell like an incredibly strong version of the cheapest industrial use hand soap available. It doesn’t stink like a fart, it is just overpowering and a little nauseating. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink-bugs/523829/3 "2010-01-06T03:20:48Z")
[These are the stinkbugs I’m familiar with](http://www.desertusa.com/mag01/may/papr/sbug.html). They can be a mite smelly. I have never knowingly seen [this kind](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentatomidae). ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink-bugs/523829/4 "2010-01-06T15:42:56Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Have you ever done it? Stink bugs, as I know them, smell like an incredibly strong version of the cheapest industrial use hand soap available. It doesn’t stink like a fart, it is just overpowering and a little nauseating. I think of the smell as “rotten cucumbers”. It’s bad enough to stink up a medium-sized room, but seems to dissipate fairly quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink-bugs/523829/5 "2010-01-06T15:51:05Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I have never knowingly seen [this kind](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentatomidae). This is the kind we’ve got in our area (Baltimore). The little fuckers are everywhere. And now that it’s winter, I’ve been seeing a lot in our house. We even managed to take one with us to Austin over the holidays. And yes, they do stink. So much so that I won’t smash 'em- I just grab them with a tissue and take them outside. One of my dogs made the mistake of snapping one out of the air, and really regretted it- ever see a dog try to get a bad taste out of its mouth? He won’t even look at them anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink-bugs/523829/6 "2010-01-06T16:24:01Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > How bad can one squashed stink bug stink? 12 NUs\*. \*Nastiness Units ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink-bugs/523829/7 "2010-01-06T16:32:00Z")
Stink bug defensive chemicals contain aldehydes (a chemical family that contains formaldehyde), which have various odors. Many aldehydes are quite pleasant smelling and often used in perfume. Stink bug aldehydes are repellant in part because they are very highly concentrated. I find that some have a distinct odor of cinnamon, but so sharp as to be unpleasant. ---
**Author:** ![Umbriel2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/4af34b/32.png) [@Umbriel2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbriel2)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink-bugs/523829/8 "2010-01-07T05:39:32Z")
I’ve never crushed one – I follow the Kleenex-borne-eviction policy myself – but I’ve had them squirt the tissue once or twice in protest at being handled. I found that smell kind of wintergreeny, and not especially unpleasant, though I suppose I might change my mind if it were strong enough. A friend reports that, when finding them in a tub or sink, trying to wash them down it is the very worst approach from an odor standpoint. ---
**Author:** ![Umbriel2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/4af34b/32.png) [@Umbriel2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbriel2)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink-bugs/523829/9 "2010-01-07T05:45:20Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > This is the kind we’ve got in our area (Baltimore). The little fuckers are everywhere. And now that it’s winter, I’ve been seeing a lot in our house. We even managed to take one with us to Austin over the holidays. > > And yes, they do stink. So much so that I won’t smash 'em- I just grab them with a tissue and take them outside. One of my dogs made the mistake of snapping one out of the air, and really regretted it- ever see a dog try to get a bad taste out of its mouth? He won’t even look at them anymore. The kind we’re currently inundated with in the Northeast (I live outside Philadelphia) [has its own Wikipedia listing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bug). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink-bugs/523829/10 "2010-01-07T10:46:26Z")
The ones we have here smell (to me) of coriander leaf (which in turn, tastes soapy to me). They look like [this](http://www.schizofunaddict.com/stinkbug.jpg) - and in my experience, stink more when agitated than if they are simply squished. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink-bugs/523829/11 "2010-01-07T11:50:36Z")
> [@Umbriel2](#): > > The kind we’re currently inundated with in the Northeast (I live outside Philadelphia) [has its own Wikipedia listing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bug). Yep, that’s the little bastard. I found one crawling in my living room just last night. This last summer I found a ton of them living inside our closed patio umbrella. Bastards. It figures they’re an invasive species. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stink-bugs/523829/12 "2010-01-07T16:47:06Z")
> [@Umbriel2](#): > > A friend reports that, when finding them in a tub or sink, trying to wash them down it is the very worst approach from an odor standpoint. I confirm this - my rhubarb was plagued with them one time and I thought I’d do the organic thing and pick them off by hand and drown them in the water butt. [ol] [li]They are quite waxy and don’t sink[/li][li]They don’t like this and it causes them to make a big stink[/li][li]That is all I have to say on the subject[/li][/ol]