What Happened to All of the Stink Bugs in the Hudson Valley?

If it seems like there aren't nearly as many stink bugs trying to sneak into your Hudson Valley home this fall, you're not imagining things.

For years, the arrival of cooler weather meant dealing with brown marmorated stink bugs crawling across windows, buzzing around lamps and somehow finding their way into just about every room in the house.

But lately, they seem to have all but disappeared.

A small brown insect with long antennae on a surface

Where Did All of the Stink Bugs Go?

The brown marmorated stink bug is an invasive insect that first arrived in the United States from Asia in the 1990s. According to Cornell University, the bugs eventually spread throughout the Northeast and became both an agricultural pest and a major annoyance for homeowners.

The insect was first confirmed in the Hudson Valley in 2008 and populations quickly exploded. At one point, the bugs were causing serious damage to local apple crops while invading Hudson Valley homes by the thousands.

Peter Jentsch, an entomologist who has studied the insects at Cornell's Hudson Valley Research Laboratory in Highland, reported that researchers have observed an overall decline in brown marmorated stink bugs over roughly the past eight years, with significantly less damage showing up in Hudson Valley fruit.

A brown stink bug rests on a green leaf

A Tiny Wasp May Be Helping

One possible reason is the introduction of the samurai wasp to the Hudson Valley.

The incredibly tiny wasp, officially known as Trissolcus japonicus, is a natural enemy of the brown marmorated stink bug. The wasp lays its eggs inside stink bug eggs, killing the developing stink bug before it can hatch.

Samurai wasps were discovered in the Hudson Valley in 2016. Cornell researchers later began redistributing them at farms and other locations across New York in hopes of establishing a natural biological control for stink bugs.

In their native range, samurai wasps can kill up to 80 percent of stink bug eggs, although research into their impact here in North America is still ongoing.

Stink Bugs Could Stage a Comeback

Climate change and warmer winters, like the one predicted this year, can boost stink bug populations. So while our stink bug invasion doesn't seem nearly as bad as it once was, it's possible that their numbers could increase again.

But for now at least, the Hudson Valley can enjoy the break from the stink bugs that used to seemingly be everywhere.