Overview
- Sightings have risen across Germany in late October as adult stinkbugs produced during the warm, dry summer search for warm, sheltered winter sites and enter buildings to overwinter.
- Experts say the insects are harmless to people and pets but release a strong, persistent defensive secretion when stressed that smells like rotten cilantro and sticks to fabrics and vacuum filters.
- Authorities and conservation groups strongly advise against crushing or vacuuming indoors because that spreads the smell; instead use a glass-and-paper method to catch and release and change vacuum bags if insects were sucked up.
- Preventive steps include sealing tiny gaps in window frames and roller-shutter boxes, keeping insect screens in place, turning off lights when ventilating at dusk, and checking firewood and plants before bringing them inside.
- Beyond homes, the invasive marmorated stink bug that has spread since 2011 remains a concern for fruit growers, and researchers are pursuing biological controls such as parasitoid wasps rather than broad indoor pesticide use.