Kudzu Bug – Control

First we had kudzu vine…now we have kudzu bugs!

I guess it makes sense. This pest of kudzu plants in Asia somehow travelled to the US and now anyone living near a patch of kudzu often spots the insects on their green beans, on their home walls and sometimes crawling in their home.

Kudzu bug is also known as the globular stinkbug,  Megacopta cribraria. It has a distinctive and unpleasant smell and hundreds of them can be found crawling on light-colored house walls in spring and fall.

I have found them in every summertime kudzu patch I’ve seen around the north Georgia area.

They don’t bite, but control may be necessary.  You can use any labeled outdoor insecticide to kill them. Remember that it’s best to spray in the evening, to avoid contact with honeybees. Products that fit on the end of a water hose are easy to use, just don’t get any of the spray on your skin.

If they are in your home, the first step is to seal all window/door cracks. They insects are small enough to get in the wall and come out around wall outlets, so seal those too. Sweep them into a dustpan and put them in a bucket of water.

Some have found, to their chagrin, that vacuuming is not a good option. The bugs release their stink inside the vacuum and you’ll smell it for weeks afterward when you use the machine.

Keep this in mind: you can’t eliminate kudzu bugs….you can only manage their presence.

Kudzu Bug FAQ

Pix of kudzu bug adult, nymphs and eggs.

kudzu bug (globular stinkbug)

kudzu bug up close

kudzu bug

kudzu bug on kudzu leaf

kudzu bug on kudzu flower