Currently: 53°F
And the winner of the most irritating bug of the year goes to: The stink bug! The stink bug is a fairly new creature to Pennsylvania, arriving around the year 2000. It has caused many at Millersville University, faculty, staff and students alike, to cover their noses to try and ignore its distinctive scent.
Dr. John Wallace, biology, said that the bugs spent the summer eating fruit at orchards before the weather cools down, and they will return to our homes and workplaces in the fall. According to Wallace, “These bugs are generalist feeders, so they have dispersed from their overwintering hibernacula to feed on almost anything. By living in the orchards, it allows them to reproduce at a faster rate, grow and enter the winter season as adults.”
The Environmental Protection Agency granted an emergency exemption allowing orchards in seven states including Pennsylvania to use the insecticide dinotefuran. The insecticide will “help growers fight an expected explosion in stink bug numbers this year.”
