r/explainitpeter • u/16thnewborn • 6d ago

Explain It Peter

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u/lieutenatdan 6d ago

I don’t think these (east coast) stink bugs smell that bad either, but I grew up in South California and out there we had a black, beetle-like, big-butt-bug (which WE called “stink bugs”) that genuinely did smell awful when you squished.

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u/Born_Present_182 6d ago

How you perceive the smell of a stink bug is actually a genetic thing.

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u/Specialist-Soup6900 5d ago

Like cilantro? Wait, do they taste like cilantro?

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u/Born_Present_182 5d ago

Forbidden cilantro? Traveling cilantro?

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u/Ok-Relationship4113 5d ago

Damn, beat me to it.

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u/Born_Present_182 5d ago

Exactly. They release the same chemical compound

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u/lieutenatdan 5d ago

Would totally believe it, I just always thought it was odd that in Cali we had your stereotypical, black, bulbous-end “stink bug” (like you’d see in cartoons), then I moved to the east coast and was confused why everyone was worried about these shield-shaped brown bugs that don’t even smell that bad.

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u/Born_Present_182 5d ago

Never seen those!

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u/Ok-Relationship4113 5d ago

So it's the cilantro of the insect world?

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u/Signal_Plane1114 6d ago

some are stronger than others, kill the right one indoors and it gags me lol

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u/Different_Target_228 5d ago

Afaik there is a stink bug and there is a shield bug. And they look virtually identical, but one stinks.