Stink bugs eat plants. The vast majority of species feed on fruits, vegetables, seeds, and leaves, using needle-like mouthparts to pierce plant tissue and suck out the contents. The brown marmorated stink bug, the species most people encounter in North America, has over 120 documented host plants, making it one of the least picky eaters in the insect world. A small number of stink bug species are actually predators that hunt other insects.
Plants, Fruits, and Crops They Prefer
Stink bugs gravitate toward developing seeds and fruit above all else. When seeds or fruit aren’t available, they’ll feed on stems and foliage instead. Their preferred hosts span trees, shrubs, vines, weeds, and cultivated crops. Among the crops most at risk are tomatoes, peppers, apples, pears, citrus, grapevines, and soybeans.
Wild and uncultivated plants actually rank higher on the preference list than garden crops. Stink bugs favor wild blackberries, legumes, mustards, and various weeds like Russian thistle, little mallow, and nutsedge. This means a yard with weedy borders can draw stink bugs in before they ever reach your vegetable garden. Ornamental plants and landscape trees are also fair game.
The brown marmorated stink bug is especially problematic because of its enormous diet. Michigan State University Extension has documented roughly 128 host plant species, though some estimates reference closer to 300. That range includes everything from peach trees to ornamental roses, which is why this invasive species (originally from East Asia) has become such an agricultural headache since establishing itself in the U.S.
The green stink bug, a native species common in vegetable and soybean fields across the eastern U.S., has a narrower but still broad diet. It shows up most often in soybeans and vegetable crops, where it targets the same developing seeds and fruit that other stink bugs prefer.
How They Feed
Stink bugs don’t chew. Both nymphs and adults have piercing-sucking mouthparts: a thin, tubular structure called a stylet that works like a hypodermic needle. They push the stylet into plant tissue and inject saliva loaded with digestive enzymes. These enzymes liquefy the plant cells around the injection site, turning solid tissue into something the bug can slurp back up through the same tube.
Their saliva is remarkably sophisticated. USDA and Washington State University researchers identified 677 different proteins in the salivary glands of just five stink bug species. Some of those proteins break down plant tissue for easier feeding. Others actively sabotage the plant’s defense systems. Plants normally detect when an insect pierces them and respond by sealing the wound with a compound called callose. Certain proteins in stink bug saliva block the chemical signal that triggers this repair, keeping the feeding site open longer. Some salivary secretions even solidify around the stylet during feeding, forming a protective sheath that helps suppress the plant’s immune response.
Damage to Garden Plants and Crops
Because stink bugs feed from the inside out, the damage they leave behind looks different from the chewed leaves you’d see with caterpillars or beetles. On green tomatoes, feeding shows up as dark pinpricks surrounded by a discolored halo that stays light green or turns yellow as the fruit ripens. Beneath the surface, the tissue around the feeding site turns corky and develops fissures. On other fruits like apples and pears, this creates a defect called “catfacing,” where the skin dimples and scars as the fruit grows around the damaged area.
The damage goes beyond cosmetics. Stink bugs carry yeast and other pathogens on their mouthparts, which get introduced directly into the fruit during feeding. This can cause decay that spreads well beyond the original puncture. You can sometimes spot stink bug activity before noticing fruit damage by looking for their brown liquid waste, which dries into tiny spots (roughly the size of a pinhead) on leaves and fruit surfaces.
Predatory Species That Eat Other Insects
Not all stink bugs are plant feeders. A handful of species are predators, and they’re genuinely helpful in gardens. The spined soldier bug is the most well-known example. It feeds on a wide variety of garden pests including Mexican bean beetle larvae, Colorado potato beetle larvae, and imported cabbageworms. Like their plant-feeding cousins, predatory stink bugs use piercing-sucking mouthparts, but they drive their stylet into insect prey instead of plant tissue. Both adults and nymphs (from the second developmental stage onward) hunt actively, targeting moth and beetle larvae in particular.
Predatory stink bugs are easy to confuse with the pest species. The spined soldier bug has sharp, pointed “shoulders” on its thorax, while the brown marmorated stink bug has rounded shoulders and distinctive white banding on its antennae. Knowing the difference matters if you’re trying to manage your garden, since killing the predators removes a natural check on the pests you actually want gone.
Do Stink Bugs Eat Anything Indoors?
If stink bugs have invaded your home in fall or winter, you can stop worrying about your pantry, your clothes, and your furniture. Stink bugs enter homes seeking shelter for a dormant period called diapause, during which they do not eat at all. They’re inactive, living off stored energy reserves until temperatures warm up enough for them to head back outside. Their food sources are strictly outdoor plants, fruits, and agricultural crops. They won’t nibble on stored food, fabric, wood, or anything else inside your house. The only thing they’ll damage indoors is your patience.