Free Republic

Open Your Mind, and Your Mouth You might think of eating insects as something kids do on a dare. But some of these little animals are popular around the world for their nutritional value -- and they’re starting to catch on in the U.S. Not long ago, sushi and lobster didn’t seem all that appetizing to Americans, so it’s not as far-fetched as it sounds.

The cold isn’t all bad. According to a release from the National Pest Management Association, the polar vortex may have killed up to 95 percent of the stink bugs that were left out to brave the elements. The release cites a Virginia Tech research experiment. However, the study refers only to the bugs that couldn’t find shelter to stay warm for the winter. Bugs that may have made it inside your home before the cold are likely still warm and cozy.

Normally, when the weather begins to cool, stink bugs look for shelter. But in this case, the shorter days have likely promoted the critters to seek shelter in advance of cooler temperatures. “This is the time of year when these bugs start to look forward to shelter and move into people’s homes,” Benson said, adding the brown marmorated stink bugs — which were first reported in the United States in the 1990s and in South Carolina roughly six or seven years ago — “aggregate in large numbers in sheltered locations.”While it’s not an issue when these insects aggregate in a...

Warm weather this year has contributed to a resurgence in the mid-Atlantic region’s brown marmorated stink bug population, with researchers estimating at least a 60 percent increase this year in insects that soon will be making their way indoors to escape cooling temperatures. Record summer heat that lasted through September favored the resurgence of stink bugs, which breed twice a year — in spring and summer. Michael Raupp, entomology professor at the University of Maryland, said the favorable conditions enabled the bugs to complete their second breeding cycle in “spectacular fashion,” meaning they are poised to invade homes and businesses...

An insect with a voracious appetite, no domestic natural predators and a taste for everything from apples to lima beans has caused millions of dollars in crop damage and may just be getting started. The brown marmorated stink bug, a three-quarter-inch invader native to Asia, is believed to have been brought first to the Allentown, Pa., area in 1998. The bug began appearing in mid-Atlantic orchards in 2003-04 and exploded in number last year. This spring, stink bugs have been seen in 33 states, including every one east of the Mississippi River and as far west as California, Oregon and...

SABILLASVILLE, Md. — When they retreated from the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate troops passed by the area that is now Richard Masser’s orchards. If only the latest enemy — the brown marmorated stink bug — would follow suit. Damage to fruit and vegetable crops from stink bugs in Middle Atlantic states has reached critical levels, according to a government report. That is in addition to the headaches the bugs are giving homeowners who cannot keep them out of their living rooms — especially the people who unwittingly step on them. When stink bugs are crushed or become irritated, they emit...