Stink bugs of Oregon
You can help ODA by submitting your spottings of stink bugs that you find in Oregon and including our mission in your posts. This information will help us to update our information about the species of stink bugs that occur in the state. Currently, we depend on the collections of specimens at the ODA in Salem, as well as the Oregon State Arthropod Collection. These give us a good idea of the species in the state, but with your help, we can get an even better picture of what stink bugs live here, and where.
Information to include that is most helpful: Where you saw the bug, what kind of plant it was on, the accurate date of the spotting, what time of day you spotted it. Any or all of this information is very useful to our data base. Thanks!
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Created by
C. Hedstrom
Website
8 participants
4 spottings
The Oregon Department of Agriculture is involved with ongoing research to combat the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys, an invasive pest that has recently established in Oregon. The brown marmorated stink bug is a known agricultural pest, causing damage to crops by directly feeding on the fruits and nuts. It's also a nuisance pest, spending the winters in structures (including people's homes), often numbering in the hundreds and thousands in the late summer and early spring.
Specifically, when entomologists say "stink bugs", we are referring to insects in the family Pentatomidae. These insects are generally oval or shield shaped and adults are between 0.5 and 2 cm long. When disturbed, they can emit a foul smelling odor (which is generally also foul-tasting, believe us - we've tried) and generally discourages a would-be predator from eating them. Don't worry though, they are not venomous or harmful to humans - they won't bite or sting. We are looking for members of this insect family, or those that are closely related. If you think you have a stink bug, post it! If it's not, we can do our best to tell you what we think it is. If you search the tags of "stink bug" or "pentatomidae" on Project Noah, you will be able to get a good idea of what types of bugs we're talking about.
Thanks for all of your help! We look forward to seeing what stink bugs you find! Please let us know if you would like more information about stink bugs, brown marmorated stink bug, or our research.
