It sounds like a bad joke: A small brown bug that appears benign until you step on it. Then it releases a nasty odor, a kind of aromatic flipping of the bird to the cruel world.

But there’s really nothing funny about the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, a species native to Asia that is making itself comfortable in New Jersey homes.

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"Outside, they’re everywhere. Inside, we remove one a day," said Jack Ciattarelli, a Hillsborough resident who is the Somerset County freeholder director. "I say remove, because we’ve learned, the hard way, not to kill the little critters."

First discovered in Allentown, Pa., in 1996, the nickle-sized bugs have invaded New Jersey and spread across the Eastern seaboard, annoying homeowners and creating havoc for farmers. With no natural enemies, they are increasing in numbers and no formal defense has been found to combat them.About two centimeters long with blue metallic spots and white antennae, the stink bugs seek shelter indoors in the fall. Dormant in winter, they become a nuisance in the spring. They are slow moving and noisy in flight, get caught in lamp shades and blinds and they flutter around ceilings, all in an effort to get outside.

Homeowners have learned the hard way how to handle them. Blunt force is not recommended, since crushing the bugs’ abdominal scent glands causes the stink. A better defense is to plug in the vacuum.

The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

Latin Name: Halyomorpha halys

What they look like: Shaped like a crest or a shield, can be up to 2 cm long with a brown body, bluish metallic spots and white antennae

First found in U.S.: Allentown, Pa., in 1996

Prevention: Seal holes in exterior of home. The professional application of a pesticide spray on exterior of home may also be an effective deterrent.



How to get rid of them:Vacuum them up or toweling them and flushing them down the toilet. Crushing the bug will emit a strong odor.



"They don’t do any damage, but they’re a problem because they’re not native. It’s typical with things like this. They go through a population explosion because there’s no control for them," said George Hamilton, an entomologist at the Rutgers University’s Pest Management Office. "They have this nasty behavior where they congregate in large numbers and they go inside the houses in the fall."

But they are a growing concern for farmers, Hamilton said. Stink bugs enjoy the fruits of various flora. They have been damaging crops as they spread south and west through the United States, he said.

In northwestern New Jersey, apple farmers have reported as much as 70 percent of their crop being damaged by the bothersome bugs over the last two year, Hamilton said.

Because they are new to the country, entomologists are still testing ways to control the bugs’ population en masse.

"They’ve really only taken a strong push through New Jersey in the last two years," said Dan Bradbury of Viking Pest and Termite Control. "We used to get a call here and there now it’s multiple calls every day."

Rutgers’ Pest Management Office recommends sealing holes in the foundation, siding and light fixtures of the home to prevent the bugs from getting inside. Hamilton said stink bugs may be deterred by pesticide sprays applied by professional pest control companies to the exterior of a home, though the treatment is not guaranteed.

Once the bugs are indoors, however, the use of insecticides can be dangerous and is not recommended ,according to Leonard Douglen, executive director of the New Jersey Pest Management Association.

"You don’t want to be spraying insecticides inside a living environment," he said.

Bradbury suggests flushing and vacuuming for best results, but he doesn’t rule out the boot.

"I’ve smelled them and I don’t think it’s that bad," said Bradbury, whose chosen career suggests a higher tolerance for the ick factor. "But I guess it’s all up to interpretation."