While stink bugs are a common fall pest in Brentwood and throughout Middle Tennessee, they don't impact every home the same way. There are many factors that can increase stink bug activity around your home and conditions that can allow stink bugs to get into your home. Fall is when stink bugs are most likely to get in. So now is the perfect time to start preparing for fall stink bugs. Let's dig in and talk about attractants and conditions that can make stink bugs more common around and inside your Brentwood home.
Stink Bug Attractants
These are crop pests so a yard that has a vegetable garden or fruit trees can be more attractive to these bugs. If you live near a farm, it can be even worse. Homes that are close to stink bug-infested farmland have a lot more trouble with stink bugs during the fall
Stink bugs don't just eat vegetables and fruit, they can suck the sap from plants as well. Some ornamental plants can provide a source of nourishment for these insects. So homes with lots of vegetation experience stink bugs more often.
In the fall, stink bugs may choose to congregate on a home for no other reason than to take advantage of sun-exposed exterior walls. When they do, they often find a way in.
Conditions That Allow Stink Bugs In
There is a lot you need to know about stink bugs but this is the most important thing; stink bugs have a knack for finding tiny entry points in the exterior walls and foundations of homes. Some common points of entry are:
- Gaps in weatherstripping.
- Damaged or missing door sweeps.
- Damaged bristles on the seal between sliding glass doors.
- Broken seals or gaps around window or door frames.
- Openings around pipes and wire conduit that pass through the foundation wall.
- Unprotected weep holes.
- Chipped mortar.
- Cracked foundation walls.
- Holes created by mice, rats, carpenter ants, termites and more.
- Water-damaged wood.
- Ripped or damaged screens.
- Gaps around screens.
- Gaps in rooflines, soffits, and fascia.
- Gaps behind chimney stacks.
- A chimney that does not have a damper.
- Unprotected vents.
- Gaps around roof penetrations.
There are many more, but you get the point. The ways stink bugs can get into your home are numerous and often hard to find. That is why it is so important to have ongoing residential pest control applied around your home. If you'd like to know how routine pest control service from All-American Pest Control works to address the problem of stink bugs in Brentwood, we'd love the opportunity to talk with you about it. We have experienced professionals standing by to assist you.