Haven't really seen them very much either, though I think it's still early for them.

I've only killed a handful so far and last year at this time I was already pulling plants, because the infestation was so bad. I kept a couple Sun Golds and they started producing again in mid July. By then the stink bugs had moved on.

My nemesis this year is the heat and drought. Harvest has been ongoing for about a month. Will start pulling some plants this weekend.

It's now July 1, 2011 and I still haven't seen any. Is anyone else as lucky as I, or am I in for a big surprise any day now? Is it possible that the hundreds (thousands?) that I killed last year is paying off? That would be cool.

Your missing stinkbugs are all healthy and accounted for over here in DelaWHERE. You may pick them up anytime. And the sooner the better...;-)

I'm sorry to hear that Delaware is swarming with them, I just can't fathom why they're not all over my tomato plants this year like they were last. Oh well, I'm sure they're on their way. Good luck.

Seen a few young ones so far but it is still a couple of weeks to early for them here. Here they show up in mid-July every year.

Dave

"I'm sorry to hear that Delaware is swarming with them"

Same here in the Piedmont of SC! They devoured my squash plants. Between the bugs and drought, several years now, I'm almost ready to give up!

I can only speak for my own area, but I had very little problems with them. I would conclude that due to the drought the stink bugs,here anyway will have a hard time getting enough moisture to really get started.

It is weird to consider that a normal precipitation year would produce more. But with more disease and bugs. Where a drought may not produce quite as much, but hardly the problems of disease and bugs.

Dare I jinx it? Last year was my first year in my home in the NW section of VA so I don't have a history. I've been wondering where they are this year, maybe it's still too soon? I hope they never come!

According to the Penn State website, http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/brown-marmorated-stink-bug "Adults will emerge sometime in the spring of the year (late April to mid-May)...", which is when they attacked me last year. That's why I'm wondering where they all are as of 7/2/11. It seems as if they prefer Delaware and the Piedmont of SC so far. I'll update as the condition worsens here in Baltimore.

They are all in my tomato plants, lol. More this year than last. SW Missouri.

Cheri

Cheri,

Been rainy in your area recently?

I have them in my tomatoes and some on blueberries. It has been very dry here. I kill them at night when they come to the tops of the tomato plants. I have a black thumb from pinching them in two.

I'm below Baltimore,MD in Fairfax,VA and I've seen the youngsters mating on my cucumber vines late in the day. Just flick them into a cup of soapy water. They will be showing up later this month in much larger numbers as they continue to feed. Also just received notice that St Gabriels Organic has a Stinkbug Killer Spray

They've just appeared in central Texas, though we've been eating tomatoes for a month or so already now. They were a big problem for me two years ago in late summer, and strangely they never appeared last summer. Maybe too hot for them?

What I'm seeing now is mostly the immature ones, with bright orange soft bodies. They're pretty slow and, from a survival standpoint, pretty dumb as well. They cluster on ONE cherry tomato. So I just reach for it, grab it hard, and smash 6-8 of them in one fell swoop. Makes for a messy hand, but you get a lot of satisfaction from it. So far, I'm just seeing one cluster a day in an area of two or three square yards of cherry tomatoes.

See, if they were smart, they'd spread themselves out over a larger number of fruit.

To the extent they mature, I gotta get me one of those rechargeable hand-vacs, which I hear do a great job of sucking their shield-like black bodies up off your plants.

Well I'm seeing youngsters again about the size of a pencil eraser and flicking them into a cup of soapy water as I did this time last year. However didn't have a large swarm in 2011 and just kept flicking them into the cup of soapy water throughout the summer in the early evening.

ME!! I was wondering the same thing. I'm south of San Antonio and last year was a terrible tomato year. I think I harvested 10 tomatoes. The plants wouldn't produce and the stink bugs and chinch bugs were prolific.

I've found maybe four so far and a couple of worms. We've been eating tomatoes for weeks now and the plants still look good. But this week's heatwave might weaken them.

It's curious. I remove them from my tomatoes, where they are clustered, but the tomatoes they're clustered on don't seem to be damaged. Do they hang out for a while before eating? Or is the damage that they do initially unrecognizable?

I survey for them just about every day, so maybe I'm not giving them a chance to do damage.

I'm in Laurel, MD and there are very few here this year BUT idid did find aclutch of eggs on grapes sothey are out there evenifthenumbers are low.

I have them on my tomatoes. They hide at the bottom of the plant and deep inside where the foliage is thick. All my tomatoes are damaged by them but not as bad as last year. Mine are not orange I wish they were that easy to find and squash. My hand vac is not strong enough to suck them up because they cling. I should run a long extension cord and use a shop vac but mine are not easy to find even if I did that.