Homeowner issues warning after spotting alarming discovery in garden every year: 'Kill on sight'

There's nothing worse than going to take a bite of a vegetable or fruit from your garden only to find a pest has made your food its home. That's what drove a homeowner to post a rant on Reddit about invasive stink bugs wreaking havoc in their garden.

In the r/gardening subreddit, the OP shared a photo of a cluster of stink bug eggs attached to their raspberry bush. 

They explained they have to spend countless hours removing their eggs and pupae from the plants, noting that where they live, the stink bugs have no natural predators, and there don't seem to be any pesticides that work against them. 

"I remember when I could eat raspberries without the fear of putting a nasty smelly one in my mouth, because S.B. not only parasitize my fruits, but they render them inedible," they wrote. 

The OP added they had to abandon several kilograms of raspberries on the stem last year after finding that four out of six berries were ruined by stink bugs. 

There are many species of stink bugs, but the brown marmorated stink bug is one that's become most invasive in North America, joining the already 250 stink bug species on the continent, according to the National Wildlife Federation. 

Stink bugs not only damage plants, but they can also cause issues in processing certain plants, like grapevines, by contaminating the juices with their digestive enzymes, causing necrotic spots and rot, per the Center for Invasive Species Research. They're also irritating outside the garden as they tend to move into homes and buildings during the winter season and can cause large infestations, releasing their signature stink when killed. 

The OP was eager to "kill on sight" any stink bugs after learning from a Redditor in the comments that they have an interest in plants beyond raspberries.

Another Redditor shared, "Stink bugs cause the highest losses on my pepper plants. Hate them."

One person taught their son to search for stink bugs, saying, "He hunts them relentlessly every summer, and each year we have fewer and fewer!"

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