Stink / Shield bugs

Our van was covered in 100's of these stink bugs, end of last September on a campsite near Cognac in France. I cleared them all off the one side of the van they were on and for the next week or two they kept appearing in the van everyhere.
They'd got behind the dashboard and inside the door panels where they hibernated until April/May this year, when they started to reappear again.
Warm sunny day's is what got them out of hibernation and we must of killed at least another hundred since, although no signs of any for 2 months now.
They thrive on fruit on the mainland and are a real pest to the wine makers. Not many in this country, spotted mainly in the south of UK but they really must be killed if you bring them back.
 
well today while packing the van just came across 1 more don't know if it was living or dead as almost out of reach just managed to pinch it between thumb an forefinger it smelt an was wet but body was brown not green
 
just had 3 weeks in France didn't see any anywhere very particular unloading van All clothes checked and washed even what we didn't use but still found a live one in house bathroom window
 
witzend said:
just had 3 weeks in France didn't see any anywhere very particular unloading van All clothes checked and washed even what we didn't use but still found a live one in house bathroom window
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We've evicted a few this time in Provence, another careful check when we get home 👍
 
Saw them regular but several years back in late september we was inundated with the little buggers down near Lourdes, France.

At first they were funny then they virtually swarmed like bloody locusts and we realised they were becoming a huge problem so we moved along with all the French motorhomers to another aire that seemed clear of them.

After that and for the rest of our time over there whilst we drove back up through France whenever it warmed up out they would come from every nook and cranny on the motorhome with the awning housing being a favourite so i would terminate them instantly.

When we arrived back in blighty we always stayed the first night on Canterbury P&R then leave very early the next morning so the trip home especially M25 / dartford crossing etc. was not too bad. Whilst on the P&R early that evening it was very very warm and out they came, the motorhome looked like it breeding them and i must have killed hundreds of the buggers.

To cut an even longer story short 2 years later i had to remove a couple of the window blind cassettes to repair the blinds and i had the shock of my life when i took them off, the whole cassette was crammed solid with them and some of the little twats were still alive :eek:

I counted over 300 of them so i removed all of the remaining cassettes and everyone was full, most of them were dead but the odd ones weren`t.

I then really went to town searching and using an inspection camera i found them everywhere including under the solar panels on the frame ledges and even the electric step box had them inside it.
 
Our French neighbour called them ‘ Les Gendarmes’, when asked why he said because they were the same colour (red and black) as the old Gendarmes and always went about in twos.
 
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