While it may seem hard to imagine, stink bugs were not always in America. Stink bugs are an invasive species in the United States.

Invasive species are species that are not native, and accidentally introduced to an environment through human intervention, usually through travel and trade. They were first introduced to the United States in 1996, when they were brought on shipping containers from China to Pennsylvania.  

Stink bugs are shield shaped insects with a hard shelled back. They are mottled grayish-brown with white bands on their antennae and legs. The defining feature of the stink bug is the gland they have underneath the abdomen and thorax that emits a foul-smelling odor when they are threatened or killed. They will emit this defensive scent at anything, whether it be people, pets, animals, or other insects. 

Stink bugs thankfully will not lay their eggs in your house, as you’ll typically only find stink bug eggs outside, normally on the underside of leaves, Stink bugs lay 30-100 light green barrel-shaped eggs arranged tightly in dozens of rows and clusters. They can reproduce different times throughout the year, and can lay up to 300 eggs in a single season. 

Stink bugs prefer warmer habitats and climates. You can often find them underneath floorboards, weeds, stones, ground covers and more. Stink bugs will congregate in warmer areas of your house. Stink bugs are most active in the spring and dormant during the winter, but you are most likely to encounter them in Autumn. In Autumn, the stink bugs begin their overwintering process. Overwintering is a similar process to hibernation, where the stink bug will become dormant as the winter arrives. They look for warm habitats to wait out the winter in, and no habitat is safer or warmer than the human house. Stink bugs will stay in your house for the entire winter and then leave once the spring arrives.