Photo by Sh4rp_i.

Stink bugs are much maligned, pestering bugs that can invade houses – showing up everywhere and smelling quite foul after they die. However, while we might find stink bugs to be an annoyance, they are quite the problem for area farmers. Stink bugs have destroyed area apple and peach crops.

Now scientists have are pushing an insecticide that seven states, including Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, could use to fight the little buggers. The insecticide is not currently permitted in orchards to fight crop damage, but if scientists can get a federal emergency exemption by August area farmers will be able to use the insecticide.

Dinotefuran, the main ingredient in the new insecticide, is also used in two other insecticides currently permitted in the US. The Environmental Protection Agency allows its use on vegetables, grapes, and cotton but not orchard fruits like apples and peaches. The insecticide is used in Asian countries to control stink bugs on orchard fruits.

The U.S. Agriculture Department is experimenting with scented traps and Asian wasps that prey on stink bugs, but those solutions couldn’t be implemented for years.

The war against stink bugs begins, the question now being – will this new weapon be effective if permitted? Or will we have to bow down to our new stink bug overlords?