Stink Bugs Are Swarming Everywhere — Leave Them Alone and They’ll Call in Reinforcements to Overwinter: 5ch Reacts ‘Gross! Scary! No! It Stinks!’

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The story

Stink bugs are turning up in greater numbers across town, earning a reputation as a “pest best avoided if possible.” According to the original article, leaving them alone risks them calling in reinforcements to settle in for the winter, so early countermeasures are being urged. On 5ch, the thread lit up with practical tips — theories blaming the rise on global warming or the spread of cedar and cypress plantations, observations that green individuals seem to be giving way to black ones, and removal methods using plastic bottles, packing tape, and mint oil.

Right now, “stink bugs” are multiplying all over town.

A green “pest” best avoided if you can help it — we looked into what can be done about it right now.

“One dropped on me from above and I was like, ‘Gross!’”

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

What people said

2AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:04
Saw like 15 of them while traveling in Fujiyoshida the other day.
42AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:17
Humans are grosser and smellier than they are.
5AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:05
Lately it's all black ones, not green ones.
15AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:09
Re: #5
Opposite here — I used to only see black ones, but the past few years I've started seeing green ones too.
108AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:38
Re: #5
The green ones used to swarm back when fluorescent lights were everywhere. They'd sit in the pickup slot of vending machines and convenience store coolers, basically interfering with business.
7AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:07
Why don't people who can handle cilantro just eat them? (stink bugs are notorious for smelling like cilantro/coriander)
77AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:26
Re: #7
That settles it then. Forget the plant nicknamed "stink bug grass" (a slang name for cilantro) — just have them eat actual stink bugs.
9AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:07
Stink bugs never used to be like this, right? Is this global warming's fault?
16AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:09
Re: #9
They've always been around, honestly. There used to be lots of other bugs too, but now it's just stink bugs everywhere.
83AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:28
Re: #9
Global warming, for starters.
11AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:08
Monsters that call in a ton of reinforcements are a jackpot in Dragon Quest.

Back in the day you'd use a rapid-fire controller or just tape the button down, leave it running overnight, and rack up insane amounts of EXP.

Of course you'd tune your attack power so you didn't wipe them all out.
25AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:10
( ゚∀゚)
 (  ∩ミ Look, it's a turtle! (a pun — "kame" in kamemushi/stink bug means "turtle")
 | ω|
 し⌒J
50AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:19
Re: #25
      .
  _, ,_  .・(U)      Sp
 ( ゚Д゚).;;.;∵ヽ('∀' )  lat!
 (   .;..;''      Sq
 | ★";'.       /
 し⌒J       uish


      (U)  

( '∀')ノ   Gross! Scary! No! It stinks!
26AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:11
> "Gross!" "Scary!" "No!" "Stinks!"
Huh? Are they talking about me?
60AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:22
Re: #26
Nah, can't be you — you don't have any friends. (´・ω・\`)
30AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:12
One was stuck on my screen door this morning, so I froze it with Goki Jet (a roach-killer spray brand with a freeze function).
34AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:14
Re: #30
They flatten their bodies out and squeeze in through the window.
36AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:15
I live somewhere fairly rural but never see stink bugs. Is this more of a city thing?
78AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:27
Re: #36
Maybe you only see a lot of them near mountain forests or in truly rural areas? Even within the same prefecture, the number of "stinkers" (slang for stink bugs) is way different between city neighborhoods and mountain villages.
38AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:16
There was an assassin bug in my room 🥺 gross
40AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:16
"Gross!" "Scary!" "No!" "Stinks!" "Baldy!"
49AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:19
Re: #40
There's stuff you're allowed to say and stuff you're just not. 😠
41AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:16
What's actually causing the stink bug boom? The weather?
73AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:25
Re: #41
The "stinkers" have multiplied because of global warming plus more cedar trees and the like. I posted this in a stink bug thread before, but while doing light work in rubber boots I felt a sharp sting near my ankle, then heat, then itching. Took my sock off and found a yellowish stain. Looked it up with AI and apparently it's inflammation caused by stink bug fluid — there are supposedly cases of foot inflammation from the rubber-boots-plus-stink-bug combo.
45AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:18
There's the small round kind and the slightly bigger home-plate-shaped kind, right?
67AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:24
Re: #45
As a kid I only knew the round ones, but after I moved somewhere else I learned the home-plate-shaped ones are actually the main type.
46AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:18
Is there no "stink bug eater" out there, like an anteater but for stink bugs?
53AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:20
That's a harsh way to put it. This article really shows human arrogance.
58AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:21
Re: #53

Then go eat a live stink bug yourself.

Say that after you've done it.
54AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:21
Osamu Tezuka's prophecy (famed manga artist whose name contains "mushi," meaning "bug")
64AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:23
Apparently stink bugs are also crazy high in protein. Might end up replacing crickets as the next big insect food.
68AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:24
Re: #64
BS, those things are basically hollow inside.
90AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:31
Once I started growing mint, they stopped showing up.
96AnonymousOct 13, 2026 08:34
Re: #90
Apparently they hate that cool, minty smell.
180AnonymousOct 13, 2026 09:17
I live way out in the boonies surrounded by rice paddies, so they show up all over the house. A plastic bottle opening is just the right size — I hold it up against wherever one's sitting and shake, and it drops right in. Fills up a 500mL bottle in a single season.
191AnonymousOct 13, 2026 09:27
Re: #180
Thinking about what you'd have to do with it afterward, there's no way I could copy that lol.
196AnonymousOct 13, 2026 09:29
Re: #180
As long as you don't touch its belly it's fine — stick its back onto some packing tape and toss it in the trash. I keep a roll of tape in every room this time of year and in early spring.
195AnonymousOct 13, 2026 09:28
Too much cedar and cypress is why stink bugs have multiplied. It's because nobody's cutting the trees down.
198AnonymousOct 13, 2026 09:30
Re: #195
Also the fact that people stopped doing controlled brush burning.
205AnonymousOct 13, 2026 09:36
Re: #195
If it wouldn't run at a loss, I'd honestly love for someone to buy my family's ancestral forest land — I don't even know where it is. Once the registered owner passes away, you have to go to the Legal Affairs Bureau to update the registration for forest and wild land too, and it's seriously a hassle. If the national or city government would just take unwanted land off people's hands for free, it'd be such a relief for anyone with a family home out in the countryside lol.

Background and Key Points of This Topic

Stink bugs become more likely to invade homes in autumn because they release an aggregation pheromone that draws in others of their kind while searching for a place to overwinter — the original article’s point about them “calling in reinforcements to overwinter” is based on this trait. In the thread, two theories came up for why their numbers have grown: global warming, and the spread of conifer forests (cedar, cypress) that increase the seeds they feed on. No evidence was given to settle on either explanation alone, so the two factors likely overlap. Posters also debated at length whether green or black individuals seem more common these days, but this comes down to differences between species, and no information backing up regional or generational differences was presented in the thread. For removal methods, posters shared practical tricks such as using plastic bottles, packing tape, and the repellent effect of mint oil.

*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (News Flash+) thread ““Gross!” “Scary!” “No!” “Stinks!” — Stink Bugs Are Increasing, and Ignoring Them Risks Them Calling in Reinforcements to Overwinter… What Should You Watch Out For.”

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