BajaNomad - Swarming Stinkbugs

Swarming Stinkbugs

BajaGeoff - 4-29-2008 at 10:15 AM

Has anyone in northern Baja seen a sudden increase in stinkbugs in the last few days? I stayed near La Mision on Sunday/Monday and they were swarming everywhere! They emit a smell that is reminiscent of mothballs. At one point the wind switched direction and thousands of them were blowing towards the beach...probably trying to return to land after getting blown out to sea by the strong offshore flow. I have never seen anything like it, and there are no signs of them here in San Diego.

This is what the little stinkers look like:

Taco de Baja - 4-29-2008 at 10:23 AM

I have seen a bunch in the Laguna Beach area the last 2 week ends, all crawling, or mating. I also saw a few flying near the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park on Saturday...I never knew the little stinkers could even fly......

Flying Stinkbugs

Woooosh - 4-29-2008 at 10:25 AM

I didn't know they were stinkbugs and thought they were jumping around until I saw one fly. I must have picked a hundred out of my pool. I hope they're good eating for the larger birds- becuase they are everywhere in Rosarito (The ones that aren't smushed to my winds shield that is). I think the hot, dry weather fooled a lot of bugs to hatch early the past few days- from Dragonflies to ladybugs.

BajaGeoff - 4-29-2008 at 10:30 AM

If they taste half as bad as they smell, I doubt many birds will be eating them. But then again, I have never seen a seagull with a discriminating palate. :lol:

Paulina - 4-29-2008 at 10:36 AM

I've been reading about their invasion on the Punta Banda board. I hope the gap under our front door is stink bug proof, or I'll be doing a lot of clean up this summer.

P<*)))><

ps. I like the smell of mothballs...

bajamigo - 4-29-2008 at 10:43 AM

A few folks around here (Punta Banda) reported sweeping literally hundreds out of their houses. Is this some kind of 17-year plague?

Hook - 4-29-2008 at 11:22 AM

Has anyone noticed the immense hatches of small, very determined and resilient flies that have invaded the coastal areas of south OC ( at least) this year? They are smaller than house flies but larger than gnats.

Took a cruise in the Jeep from Clemente to Newport on this past warm Sunday. At the first stoplight,we were inundated. Got moving and these buggers resisted swats, shoo-ing and the effects of wind at 50mph; they could cling to even gelcoat. Eventually THOUGHT we had rid ourselves of them but they were at every stop. Noticed that ALL the cars around us had them clinging.

Soon after, discovered they BITE, too. Never seen anything like this hatch in all my years down here.

I'm phoning Al Gore to get an answer to their proliferation.............

[Edited on 4-29-2008 by Hook]

stinkbugs and clingy flies

sylens - 4-29-2008 at 11:29 AM

both of 'm here on the beach in ensenada. not so much at our house a couple of blocks back, but then 2 cats help keep the pests down :lol:

Hook - 4-29-2008 at 11:32 AM

Come to think of it, they were about the size of "kelp" flies.

Skipjack Joe - 4-29-2008 at 11:39 AM

Maybe it's my nose or something but I just can't smell them. I've gotten down on all fours and tried, but .... nothing.

I like the picture, though. They're definitely part of the baja experience. Morro Santo Domingo just wouldn't be the same without adam trees and sting bugs.

Hook - 4-29-2008 at 11:46 AM

Are they clown beetles or darkling beetles? I cant tell, but they seem more similar to darklings.

Skipjack Joe - 4-29-2008 at 12:14 PM

Time to get a toupee

donald_toupee_blog200x193.jpg - 6kB

DENNIS - 4-29-2008 at 12:58 PM

They're everywhere. They're canibals, eating each other.
We're going to have to get some advice from the Mormons. How did they get rid of the locusts.
Gull....Can you help us here?

They Bite, Too

Gypsy Jan - 4-29-2008 at 01:20 PM

There have been a few in the house. I was mystified as to how they got in, but since they fly, I'll bet the recent winds blew them in when the door was open.

I picked one up with bare hands and on the way to disposal the bug(ger) unleashed his stink and bit me on the finger.

I guess that's why God invented shoes.

So far as I know, the cats and dogs show no interest in eating them - maybe they tried and got discouraged.

If I catch another, I'll give it to the parrot (all in the interests of scientific investigation, of course

DENNIS - 4-29-2008 at 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gypsy Jan
I guess that's why God invented shoes.

....

vandenberg - 4-29-2008 at 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS
They're canibals, eating each other.
We're going to have to get some advice from the Mormons.

Didn't know Mormons were cannibals :?:

Or , maybe, you have them mixed up with our Donner party.

And they didn't eat their young in Texas. :?:

[Edited on 4-29-2008 by vandenberg]

Lindalou - 4-29-2008 at 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS
They're everywhere. They're canibals, eating each other.
We're going to have to get some advice from the Mormons. How did they get rid of the locusts.
Gull....Can you help us here?

We lived in Elko (12 miles outside) when they had the invasion of giant grasshoppers. They were called Morman Crickets cause they came all the way from SLC Utah. They were horrible! There were so many of them it made the roads slick from running over them. Thank Gosh they never made it to our house.

bajabound2005 - 4-29-2008 at 03:31 PM

The beetles, everyone is callng stinkbugs, but we've yet to smell anything (and we've got thousands of them around us!) I looked them up and they say that stinkbugs don't fly (they do have wings but don't fly) and these guys FLY. The roads are covered with them, both dead and alive.

BajaGeoff - 4-29-2008 at 03:39 PM

Well, these guys not only fly but also stink when agitated.

Stinkbeetles then?

Frank - 4-29-2008 at 03:51 PM

We had them up to 6 miles offshore of San Diego yesterday while we were fishing. Tiny little wasps and bees were flying around also.

Mexpedition - 4-29-2008 at 08:30 PM

We were down at our place a couple of weeks ago, and the beetles were everywhere, along with biting gnats, and, weird spiders. Fat bodied, ground dwellers, slow moving, with little apparent, visible, reason they could survive. Looked like a distant, inbred relative of Daddy Long Legs. As for the beetles, I didn't think they were Stink Bugs. Moved too fast, flew, had pincers up front. Anybody an entomologist? Perhaps someone could post a picture on Baja Trekker? Ask Huell Howser? :light:

fulano - 4-29-2008 at 11:05 PM

I'm in Ramona and they are around here. My cat bit into one yesterday and was foaming at the mouth for 1/2 hour. I bet she won't do THAT again.

Heather - 4-30-2008 at 09:41 AM

I've been seeing them all over Chula Vista, too. My daughter's class had one "caged" at her pre-school yesterday. Fascinated the kids! They even told me that it had killed the ladybug, that was it's cell mate! I think the constant shaking by the twenty 3and 4 year olds may have contributed to the ladybug's death, but they were blaming the stinkbeetle! H.

Barry A. - 4-30-2008 at 10:34 AM

Al Gore says that this is a DIRECT RESULT of Global Warming. The next time there is a hatch, the buggers will be about a foot in length, and mankind as we know it will be history.

We (the Bush Administration) has GOT to do something-------NOW. :?:

sylens - 4-30-2008 at 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Heather
I've been seeing them all over Chula Vista, too. My daughter's class had one "caged" at her pre-school yesterday. Fascinated the kids! They even told me that it had killed the ladybug, that was it's cell mate! I think the constant shaking by the twenty 3and 4 year olds may have contributed to the ladybug's death, but they were blaming the stinkbeetle! H.

heather, i think the kids are right! on the beach i saw several of the beetles near dead ladybugs, leading me to question whether they had killed them. your story offers support to my hypothesis :yes:

bajabound2005 - 4-30-2008 at 10:57 AM

My hairdresser said that in one of the Ensenada papers it said there was a "plague" of ladybugs a couple of weeks ago, now the beetles. Next it's supposed to be scorpions and then rattlesnakes.

Bob H - 4-30-2008 at 11:20 AM

Loren Nancarrow on channel 10 talked about these little stinky beetles last night on the news. He said they are out to eat all the pesty little bugs in your garden and that we should leave them alone.
Bob H

Heather - 4-30-2008 at 12:01 PM

Pinacate beetles is what they are called (at least the ones that I've seen). They feed mainly on seeds, plants, and rotting material. No mention of predatory behavior. i.e eating ladybugs or other pests. Maybe they're eating the dead ladybugs?
They are more predominant in the spring and summer as that is when they hatch from their eggs. They like to do a handstand as they get ready to shoot their spray, which I guess really stinks!
They do migrate, looking for a good place to feed, and are fond of deserts!

There my research for the day is done, better get some curriculum work done too! Heather

wilderone - 4-30-2008 at 01:15 PM

There were millions of crickets among the flowered fields - all hopping the same direction -- somewhere between Catavina and El Rosario. I stopped to take photos of the flowers, and they were everywhere.

BornFisher - 4-30-2008 at 04:06 PM

Nope, not Pinacate beetles. These beetles flew and Pinacate beetles don`t.
But it couldn`t just be a "hatch" that happened on a hot day (Sunday). These were not 1 day old beetles!
Really a mystery to me, never seen anything like it!
On Monday, there were thousands that had been blown out to sea, clinging to strands of kelp, and they weren`t very good paddlers!!

bajalera - 4-30-2008 at 04:32 PM

What an educational thread. I had no idea those things could fly, or bite, either.

bacquito - 5-1-2008 at 08:34 AM

skipjaco joe:
Maybe it's my nose or something but I just can't smell them. I've gotten down on all fours and tried, but .... nothing

thump them- then they will emit a foul odor!!