I hate stink bugs.  They stink!  They’re annoying.  They show up where you don’t want them (in your house and in your garden).  They know I hate them and so they’re after me.

I’ve written before about my encounters with the Leaf-footed Bug.  I’m already dreading next fall because of them.  Today I read about a new stink bug that some how caught a flight from Asia to Atlanta and loves to eat kudzu. 

To a southerner, what could be better than a bug that eatsenough kudzu to inhibit the plant’s growth a little bit?  Well, there are major drawbacks.  This stink bug STINKS.  From what I understand it’s really smelly.  It’s small, pea-sized, so it can get in your house undetected when you open the door.  It’s prolific, this species swarms and eat crops other than kudzu.  Not good for the backyard gardener.   So chances are you’ll have more than one enter the house.  I’m doomed.

These bugs were detected last year in Atlanta and North Georgia.  This year they’ve been found in the Carolinas and Alabama.  It’s only time before they end up on my property.  I’m praying they take the long way to the coast.  Thankfully, though, I don’t have kudzu anywhere close to my house, although there is plenty around town, but they’ll find me.  All the other stink bugs do.

But, here’s another thing: a second invasive stink bug was recently found in Birmingham.  It, too, is from Asia.  Too bad we can’t deport them.