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Texas Gardening

Stink bug vs. Assassin bug

10 years ago

Does anyone know how to easily differentiate between the elongated stink bugs varieties and the assassin bug varieties? From my research on the web it seems like there are 100s of different varieties.
Also does anyone know of a successful organic method to get rid of the stink bug?
Every evening I have at least a half dozen of these bugs on my tomatoes sucking the life out of them.

Comments (4)

LunaNegra
10 years ago
Hi there
We had such a problem with stink bugs. I found one "huge"stink bug in my tomatoes and I killed it but then my sister in law an I wonder if it was a stink bug or an assassin bug :-( only difference was in size. Had the marble back like the pests that have been poking our tomatoes. Organiide worked well. We learned too to plant closer by sergom(?) and all the bad bugs goes to that plant then u spray it and not spray the veggies.
daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
10 years ago
http://bigthicketcritters.com/StinkAssasBug.html

Enjoy.

I've heard that diatomaceous Earth works well. There is this awesome technique (which I have not yet tried, but is being promoted by a garden expert), where you moisten the plants (maybe mist them?), and then blow a small pile of the DE at the plants with a leaf blower. The DE coats the plants uniformly. For my scale, I figure a handful of DE held in front of a vent line from a shop vac will work. I'm looking forward to trying this next year.
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Here's some good info: http://pmtp.wsu.edu/BMSB.html#brown_SB Yes, the serrated shoulders indicate one of the "good" stink bug species at least in the Pacific Northwest. They also supposedly have less distinct banding of the antennae and less distinct checker-boarding of the abdomen edges. The native species are only considered pests in that they may annoy you by getting into your house in the winter, otherwise they are no problem. The new Brown Marmorated Stink Bug is 10 times worse in that respect, and it loves my thornless blackberries too. Note the serrated shoulders (right behind the eyeballs) on these fine fellows: http://bugguide.net/node/view/348093 http://bugguide.net/node/view/284507 I would happily share my house with these guys than share my blackberry patch the BMSB.
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No, no, no! Never kill a spined soldier bug. They are rare and solitary and generally show up in very small numbers. You need everyone you get. I count on my spined soldier bugs to do a lot of bug control in my garden and would be very disappointed in myself if I mistook one for a stink bug and killed it. Once you see them both in the garden, you can tell them apart quite easily. In my garden, the spined soldier bugs are larger than the brown stink bugs and they proudly stand there on their leaf waiting to attack an unsuspecting pest. The brown stink bugs slink around like the cowardly bad guys that they are, and run and hide when they see me coming. Apparently the good bugs know they are good and that I won't harm them, and the bad ones know they are bad and deserve to be harmed! Here is a link that might be useful: The Link Is Here
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Jean, I am almost certain that insecticidal soap will not work because I even tried hornet and wasp spray (the one that kills on contact) and it did nothing. That stuff is much stronger than insecticidal soap! I don't think I can vacuum them because I doubt my dad will let me use any of his shop vacs for that and also, it will make the house stink like stinkbugs whenever I use the shop vac in the house from then on, even after emptying it. I read an article where vacuuming them was mentioned and it wasn't suggested for that very reason. Agardenstateofmind, my killing every one of them I can get to outside may not make much of a dent but it does make me feel better! Too bad people won't organize a stinkbug killing program and maybe we'd be less one invasive pest. Maybe I can try using a grill lighter to kill them in a safe and controlled way. It isn't "nice" but I care more about my native species and environment than I do for this alien species.
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gymgirl2
10 years ago
You can differentiate between the Stinkbug nymphs and the Assassin Bug nymphs by the tail end. I have a little blurb that helps me: "Bad Black Bump" which is what the Stinkbug nymphs sport on their butt tips when they are smallish and congregating like little orange ants with long black legs.

The clue is "congregate". Stinkbugs are groupies, and usually appear as a whole mass of them together, usually on top of your best tomato...

Assassin Bugs, true to their name, are singular and solitary. You will usually encounter them one at a time, or, in my case, if you have a "herd" of them in your milkweed, you will see them down there with adequate space between themselves, and being rather territorial...

I consider my "herd" of Assassins to be Allies. They patrol the grass and milkweed and keep EVERYTHING from crawling up to my veggie plants. The downside is that they are afraid of nothing, and will kill EVERYTHING in their path, so this means they do take out some of your beneficial bugs (bennies) as well. However, it's a trade-off, 'cause the bennies might relocate to the other side of your yard and be very safe and happy...

Linda
copingwithclay
10 years ago
When visiting the pomegranates, I look for a 'herd' of small, orange leaf-footed hopper babies all clustered together on one fruit. I soak them down with Windex using the misting setting on a 1 quart spray bottle. They all die in seconds. I can use a second quart spray bottle filled with water to rinse off the Windex. When I see the mid-sized or large leaf-footed hoppers on the fruit, I use the same Windex but with the squirt setting so as to hit them from a distance before they take off. The older bugs die slower than the orange babies after they get saturated with the Windex.

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