A Bug in the Plant

[debodun]

I have a Schefflera plant in which I discovered a beetle (I think it's a stinkbug, but it hasn't bothered me). If it was summer, I'd take it outside, but now would be cruel in this cold weather. We've been playing hide-and-seek for a few days. It moves around on the plant and I see if I can spot it now and then.

 

[Sliverfox]

Sure looks like a stinkbug.
Good news is they don't lay eggs while in a house.

IF you try to squash it, be sure to use layers of tissue /paper.
They stink when you pinch/kill them.

 

[debodun]

IF you try to squash it, be sure to use layers of tissue /paper.

I have no intention of squashing it. This is now my pet.

 

[Sliverfox]

O K

 

[HoneyNut]

I have no intention of squashing it. This is now my pet.

It's probably the pest version and really ought to be tossed out into a snowbank to die, but, if you are keeping it as a pet, it seems that they like apples:

Stink Bugs​

​

We get a lot of messages from people who get Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs inside during winter. These insects are typically pests of orchards, and other agricultural systems…which means their food is pretty widely available in grocery stores.​

​

When they’re outside, they will eat stuff like apples by piercing the fruit with their mouthparts. To recognize a food source, it needs to have some sort of skin over it.​

​

So they can be kept at room temperature and fed using cut apples, with the skin on them. A relatively simple tank setup is really all that’s needed, since they’ll be able to survive until the spring on the sugars from the apple alone.​

​

source: Can I toss that bug outside during winter?​

​

 

[CallMeKate]

I have no intention of squashing it. This is now my pet.

I'm picturing it on a little leash so you can take it for a walk. Please tell me you haven't named it.... Stinky!
Seriously, though, I think it's very nice of you to not put him (uh... her? How does one... never mind!) out in the cold.

 

[debodun]

I respect all life (except mosquitoes).

It may have hitched a ride on those apples I get at the senior center.

 

[Remy]

We have those bugs or similar here. I've only seen them outside. Bug found itself a home.

 

[debodun]

I had them all over in my former house in the late spring. They never seemed to harm anything important. After they had their say, the jumping spiders arrived.

 

[Nathan]

I leave house spiders be, I'll relocate them if they are in the way. All the bugs-beetles-lizards-snakes that mistakenly enter the house get escorted back out.

 

[debodun]

I'm picturing it on a little leash so you can take it for a walk. Please tell me you haven't named it.... Stinky!
Seriously, though, I think it's very nice of you to not put him (uh... her? How does one... never mind!) out in the cold.

It's the perfect pet for me. I don't have to walk it, clean a litter box or even feed it (it might be sucking on the Schefflera). It doesn't bark or hiss and I don't have to take it to the vet or get vaccinations for it.

 

[CallMeKate]

It's the perfect pet for me. I don't have to walk it, clean a litter box or even feed it (it might be sucking on the Schefflera). It doesn't bark or hiss and I don't have to take it to the vet or get vaccinations for it.

Well there ya go... now you just have to name it and you'll have a friend for life. (NOT "Stinky!")

 

[MarkD]

I'm picturing it on a little leash so you can take it for a walk. Please tell me you haven't named it.... Stinky!
Seriously, though, I think it's very nice of you to not put him (uh... her? How does one... never mind!) out in the cold.

If it was me it would have been burial at pee down the old toilet hatch.

 

[debodun]

Stinkbugs do not have a very long lifespan.

 

[Teacher Terry]

If it was me it would have been burial at pee down the old toilet hatch.

I totally agree Mark.

 

[jimintoronto]

I'm picturing it on a little leash so you can take it for a walk. Please tell me you haven't named it.... Stinky!
Seriously, though, I think it's very nice of you to not put him (uh... her? How does one... never mind!) out in the cold.

How does one sex a stink bug ? Well first you get it to lie down on the examination table, then shine a bright light in the ******* region and say "open wide and cough ". Jimb.

 

[CallMeKate]

How does one sex a stink bug ? Well first you get it to lie down on the examination table, then shine a bright light in the ******* region and say "open wide and cough ". Jimb.

Well now what does one say to THAT?! Careful there, Jim.... yer naughty side is showing.

 

[MountainRa]

I applaud your willingness to “live and let live” but that bug would have been drowned in a cup of soapy water as soon as I saw him/her/it. They have the most repulsive smell to me. Whatever you do don’t squash it or cause it to panic.

once I had just showered, ready for bed, when a stink bug flew down the neck of my gown and set off his stick bomb! I had to change clothes and reshower.

 

[hawkdon]

Yeah I've had those stinkers fly rite imto my face....they love any
lamp that is on....had a lot of them last fall.....

 

[Bella]

I'm not fond of stinkbugs. They're creepy and smelly buggers that sometimes dive-bomb you. Thank God they're slow and easy to squish.

 

[debodun]

Good news is they don't lay eggs while in a house.

Especially if it's a male.

 

[dilettante]

Yes, that's a Chinese Marmorated Stinkbug. Where there is one you will soon find many. In warm weather they come out of hibernation and breed in very large numbers.

I go after them with a handheld vacuum cleaner when I find them indoors. They tend to be drawn to light, so daytime they hang around in windows and on drapes, at night they like the inside of lampshades.

Very destructive to tree fruits.

 

[Paco Dennis]

They make wonderful pets!

 

[debodun]

We had a long game of hide-and-seek today. It moved off the Schefflera where it had been since I discovered it. Now it's on a Callisia.

 

[Happyflowerlady]

We had a long game of hide-and-seek today. It moved off the Schefflera where it had been since I discovered it. Now it's on a Callisia.

It probably just wanted a change of diet. Once those houseplants die from being stink bug food, you will have to get more new houseplants for your pet stinkbug to nibble away on. Maybe just plant a few inside salad plants for it, it would love some nice green leaf lettuce !

I would definitely be one of those people who either threw it out into the cold, and if it were not cold enough, then down the toilet it would go.
They hide in the walls or somewhere in the back of closets, along window edges, all kinds of places. When they come out to forage your houseplants for food, they will often fly around the lights and even land in your hair, and make a big stink when you are trying to remove them.