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Natural Solutions For Stink Bugs and Lady Bugs

Avatar for Chris Thompson Chris Thompson  |  Updated: September 8, 2021
Natural Solutions For Stink Bugs and Lady Bugs

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Stinky bugs can be a nuisance indoors and can do a lot of damage in your garden. They can really cause a stink (pun intended). But you don’t have to live with it. There are natural ways you can use to get rid of them. Here are a few; 

Bug proof your house

Stink bugs often find places to hide in the home. If you get rid of these hiding places, you will reduce their presence in your home.  So make sure you seal off any gaps or cracks in your floorboards, baseboards, corners, door frames, window sills, etc. 

You can also put up mesh screens over your windows which will not only keep stink bugs away but other pesky pests as well. Don’t forget to put up the mesh over air vents, dryer vents, and chimneys as well. 

Also, weed any indoor and outdoor gardens because stink bugs like to hide under weeds. 

Identify the hiding places

However, if after bug proofing your home the stink bugs are still hanging around, try elimination solutions. Start by identifying where they hang out the most.  A rule of thumb is that, where you see one stink bug, there are likely to be others.

Ideally, stink bugs hang around warm places such as those that get a lot of sunshine or warm spots such as heating vents. So, start there. If you have any brown, grey or green decor check there too, as they are those colors and love to camouflage against such surfaces.

Stink bugs give off a smell like Cilantro. So if you feel like your home is smelling of Cilantro, you could be having a stink bug problem.

Use natural elimination methods

While it is easy to pick up a pesticide or insecticide to get rid of stink bugs quickly, it exposes you and those around you to harmful chemicals. Instead, use the many natural solutions available for a safe solution. If you look at this article, you will see the benefits of using natural pest solutions in your home.

Natural solutions for stink bug elimination

1. Use the vacuum

If you have a vacuum with a bag, you can use it to suck up stink bugs quick and easy. But first, attach a stocking around the mouth of the vacuum to catch the bugs. 

That way after you are done vacuuming up the bugs you can just tie up the stocking, remove it and throw it away. It will also save your vacuum from stinking due to the bugs.

2. Trap the stinky insects

Yes, you can trap stink bugs. The easiest way is to use a wet towel. Soak an old towel with water making sure it’s damp – not dripping wet. Drape the towel close to areas where stink bugs hang out. 

Leave the wet towel out overnight, and you will find lots of stink bugs on it the next day. They will hang on to the towel to suck up the moisture. Take the towel,  immerse it in soapy water and leave it there for the bugs to fall off. 

Later, you can pour the water into the drain. Keep the towel as a stink bug eliminator and don’t use it for anything else.

3. Electric insect zapper

Stink bugs are attracted by light. Therefore, an electronic insect trap works wonders to get rid of them. 

They will be attracted to the trap by the light and then zapped by its electric shock. If you keep the trap on all night, you can get rid of a lot of stink bugs.

4. Use a natural insecticide

You can make your own insecticide to kill stink bugs. Do this by mixing dishwashing soap with some lavender oil and hot water. Spray this onto the bugs or where they hang out. 

The soap breaks down their outer shell and dehydrates them, thereby killing them off. The lavender oil will help cover the signature stink they give off whenever they feel threatened. 

You can also use this spray as a way to keep the stink bugs away from areas you do not want them to get in. The strong scent of the lavender oil will keep them off.

5. Neem oil stink bug repellent

You can also make a natural solution that will keep the stink bugs from laying eggs. Pour some generous drops of neem oil into hot water. Spray the solution in any entryway where they come in or where they hide. Also, spray it on any stink bugs you see. 

Neem oil disrupts the stink bugs mating instinct, thereby cutting down on their propagation. It also subjugates their eating instinct, thus causing them to starve. 

If you combine the lavender solution with the neem solution, you will cut down on the stink bug population in your home significantly.

How to get rid of ladybugs

Another pesky pest that often disturbs the peace in homes is the ladybug. Also known as Asian Lady Beetles, these bugs can be quite a bother. They come into homes in droves looking for places to hide during the cold months. To get rid of them, you have to find their hiding places first.

How to find the places that ladybugs hang around in your home

It’s easy to find the places where ladybugs like to hang around in your home.

  •  You will find big groups of them on the outer surfaces of your house close to any cracks.
  • Inside the house, you will find them on walls and ceilings. 
  • Yellow stains on light-colored items and surfaces can also be from ladybugs. They release a yellow, foul smelling liquid anytime they feel threatened.

Ladybugs are attracted to each other by scent. So once you see one or a group of them you have to deal with them. Otherwise, they will come into your home in droves.

Natural ways to eliminate ladybugs

Once you see these signs and know that ladybugs are in your home, there is something you can do to get rid of them. And it does not involve toxic pesticides or insecticides. Put those away. We are going to use natural solutions to get rid of them. It’s all you need, really!

1. Use plants

Plants like Chrysanthemums and peppermint can keep away ladybugs. Plant them in entrance ways such as window panes or around your doors to act like a ladybug barrier.

2. Get rid of the scent

To get rid of their scent, try spraying citronella liberally in your home. Just mix a few drops of citronella with some warm water, and you have an excellent bug repellent. It will cover up their scent and keep others from joining them.

You can also use other essential oils, especially the citrusy kind such as lemon or wild orange. Peppermint is also good. Apply these oils on window sills or around door frames to put off the ladybugs from coming into your home. 

3. Spice it up

Some herbs and spices put off ladybugs. Cloves and bay leaves are great for this. Putting these herbs in pouches and stashing them all over the house or in places infested by the bugs will chase them away.

4. Neem oil spray

You can also make neem oil spray to keep the bugs from mating and increasing in number. Just as with stink bugs,  neem oil spray disrupts the life cycle of the insects disorienting them so they cannot mate. 

You can spray this oil anywhere the ladybugs gather. It also works well to get rid of other pests, so you will get a lot of mileage from the spray.


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4 Responses to “Natural Solutions For Stink Bugs and Lady Bugs”

  1. I enjoy your newsletter and website. I am learning constantly from it.

    I am really surprised that you recommend Neem , when there are safer, more natural solutions to pests. To see the side effects of Neem, visit WebMD.com. Personally, I use essential oils…different oils for different pests.

  2. Your article lists the lady bug as also being known as lady Asian beetle but that is not correct.
    There are two species of lady bugs, one is American and the other is Asian.
    The American lady bug is most helpful to gardeners as they eat aphids and other garden pests.
    The Asian lady bug is the one that produces the yellow stinky stain and they bite!
    Ladybugs and Asian lady beetles definitely look similar. If you look closely, however, you’ll be able to spot a few key differences. First of all, Asian lady beetles are slightly larger than Ladybugs.
    While all ladybugs are bright red with black spots, Asian lady beetles’ coloration can vary from red to orange.
    Lady beetles may or may not have black spots on their cerci (wing covers). Lady bugs have a round, oval shape, while Asian lady beetles tend to be a little longer.
    The easiest way to tell Asian lady beetles apart from ladybugs at a glance is to look for the white “M”.
    Asian lady beetles have a distinctive, highly-visible “M-shaped” black marking on their otherwise-white heads. This marking varies in size, thickness, and overall shape, but it’s always there. Ladybugs’ heads are mostly black with small white markings.
    Ladybug’s white markings are confined to the sides of the head and may resemble “cheeks.” In general, ladybugs’ heads or “snouts” also appear shorter and less pointed than Asian lady beetles’. ‌

  3. We live in WA state in the desert, so a very different region and climate than you. But I’ve never considered lady bugs anything but a solution to aphids. Since my garden doesn’t have many aphids lady bugs don’t hang around. Maybe Asian Lady Beetles are a different species than we have. But if you can identify what their food source is and then eliminate it earlier in the season, they might be less likely to hang out in your garden and therefore less likely to come into your home in the fall.

  4. In the winter, we get innundated with Asian beetles. I put out a portable lamp with a UV bulb over a sticky trap. 100’s of beetles flock to the light and get stuck. They’re not very smart!

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