That Smell In Your House Could Be From Bugs!

Do you smell that? Uggg. 

The air pollution’s bad here, 

but—could be a bug!

Do you know what stinks worse than our theatrics above? Some of the insects that infest our homes. In fact, it’s often an odor that first tips us off that we have a pest problem. Most pests stay hidden in the early stages of an infestation, but their smell is not so easily concealed.

Sometimes, it’s the odor of their feces. It might also be shed exoskeletons or decaying bodies. Other times, it’s a spray they emit used for tracking, mating, or warfare. But whatever it is, it’s enough to make your sinuses say, "hey now, we should not be smelling that".

Recognizing these telltale smells and the insects they are associated with can be very helpful, especially when experiencing them in your home. So today, let’s talk about some of these bugs that smell so bad and why. Take a breath and action.

Stink Bugs 

If this were a classic Hollywood B movie, the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) would be the hammy over-actor playing the villain. There are actually more than 70 species of stink bugs in California. But you can think of those as merely the ambitious understudies. It’s the BMSB that is most prolific in the area. They flutter around awkwardly like they can’t find their mark, then yuck, there it is. That funky, skunky stench that weirdly smells like rotting coriander and urine. You are smelling chemicals released from a gland on their abdomen called aldehydes. They typically spray when they feel threatened, but when an infestation occurs, that odor can become pervasive throughout the home. When you squish one, that smell is overpowering. Stink bugs don’t bite, but they will damage your plants both inside the house and out.

Termites 

Termites are more like the villainous, unseen monster of our movie. They hide away in the darkest depths of our homes and insidiously ingest our wooden structures from within. They are one of the most destructive pests on the planet and one of the costliest. They have special digestive bacteria in their guts that dissolve cellulose so well that Jeff Goldblum in The Fly would have been jealous. The odors most closely associated with them resemble mold and mildew, but it actually comes from their feces. Did you know that they also build their mounds out of their own poop?

Cockroaches

Now we come to that ever-present character always scurrying around in the background raiding the craft services table, the cockroach. We dread and despise them most of all, don’t we? These filth and disease carriers are perhaps the worst pest we ever want to discover in our homes. The smell they give off is an oily, musty one. This is primarily a chemical trail marker that helps them find food and their mates, but a distinctive death smell from their dead, decaying bodies is described as sickly sweet.

Bed Bugs 

Scary B movies have that one classic scene where we know the monster lurks beneath the bed. In this case, we’ll settle for one that hides in the bed, too, the ever-so-loathsome bed bug, of course. These blood-sucking insects attack us when we’re sleeping. As psychological terror goes, that’s a biggie. They’ve certainly been terrorizing Hollywood in recent years and have become an enormous problem in Movieland and throughout the state. Bed bugs give off a pheromone that some people say smells like rotten fruit, while others swear they smell like coriander.

Ants

Next, we come to the band of thugs in our movie, the horde of troublemakers that are always up to no good: ants. You could call them the Odorous House Ant Gang since those are among the most common in our area as well as the most odiferous. These industrious insects are frequently breaking and entering our homes en masse, although, if they steal your silver, there was probably some leftover food on it. When crushed, they smell like coconut, blue cheese, and pine.

The Extras

Before we declare this a wrap, we need to acknowledge the extras. We don’t give them much credit, but they are there, too, and equally capable of stinking up a location. This includes Earwigs, Bombardier Beetles, Wheel Bugs, and more.

The Hero

Finally, if you are wondering about the hero of our movie, that’s us. We’re the best in town; when we act, we do it right. The next time you smell something suspicious that might be a bug, contact 101 Gopher & Pest Control. We’ll be happy to come to your rescue and solve the problem.