Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson for April 30, 2012

Major bug phobia, among other things.

That boy has some serious issues. How old is he anyway? 10?

You can never forget your first one…..can you?

@Pacopuddy: they’re Pentatomidae. Direct translation from Swedish: “berry fart”

Step on it and move on, Petey.

Ugh…so sorry about that! Good gracious….

@Pacopuddy;

check this out for more information on Stink bugs.http://www.pestworld.org/pest-guide/occasional-invaders/stink-bugs/

The US had a pretty nasty infestation in 2010 — the damned things were EVERYWHERE. Not so bad in 2011, but with the mild winter, we’re expecting a resurgence in 2012.

Alice is barefoot… you can see it coming…

I read that the current invasion started just a few years back in NE Pa. when some Asian stinkbugs came in some packing material. They like to come indoors when the weather turns cool, which is probably why I saw one the other day on my dentist’s window blinds. If you ever eat an apple and find a small dry brown plug, it’s been sucked dry by a stinkbug.

Dear Pacopuddy, entomologically speaking, the stinker is pretty cool looking. ‘Berry fart’ is pretty apt, but my first olfactory impression was banana which has been sitting on the counter several days too long….in the summertime.

Fellow Baby, you NEVER EVER EVER, want to step on a Stink Bug. Why do you think they are called Stink Bugs? LOL!

pschearer Yes they do like to come in the winter, just ask me. Sure was a lot of toilet flushing at my house this winter. Can’t step on ‘em, don’t want to vacuum them up because of the smell, and they can swim, so “flush, flush, flush!” :-D

Back in the mid fifties, when I was at Florida State University, I had a pet land turtle named “Doll.” She was kept in a terrarium with a buried pimiento jar for water. Every morning I’d wake up with her climbing the walls and blamming onto the soil. I’d put half a puppy kibble in a little pitcher of water, and when the kibble was soft, throw it in. For treats I’d ply her with vegetables, live bait, and insects. (You might see what’s coming.) One day I caught a nice green bug and threw it in. She chased it, caught it, gulped it down, and threw up. I felt so bad. It was a green stinkbug. For an illustration, look up green stinkbug on Google. Three entries down, there should be a strip of photos. The bug looked like those in #’s 1, 2, 4, and 5.

Incidentally, after I took Doll back home I released her by our city’s biggest lake (Maggiore).

What we call stink bugs out here in the West are black beetles that raise their hind parts when threatened, and let go a blast of noxious smelling substance. Desert mice love them. They grab them and stick their butts in the sand, rendering them basically harmless.

Never knew there was such a thing as a green stink bug. Ours are brown and shaped like a shield. ANd they hide anywhere and everywhere.,

I’m surprised stink bugs haven’t invaded the comics sooner than this. They are an absolute menace here in Pennsylvania. They are all over the house/work, they get in your food. They walk on your face when you’re trying to sleep. God forbid you sleep with your mouth open!

Did anyone else initially misread ‘Gah’? I did for a second, and was briefly shocked at a comic going that direction.

Captain Stinkbug would be a great character in Petey’s comic book.

First a bunch of slimy slugs, now a really stinky bug!

My little bird likes to eat a bug that other bugs find very nasty tasting and feeds on native cottonwood. They also are found to like sunflower seeds and such that parrots like and my little neighbor kids love to catch them in the yard and feed them to the parrot. I’m glad I have not found those others!