No 95% of Stink bugs were not killed by this year’s Polar Vortex

So you likely have seen the viral posts and news stories all over by now. You were secretly jumping for joy at the demise of these nasty pests. Small problem none of it was true or at the very least completely misleading.

It didn’t really make sense.

So when i first see the headline I was kinda shocked because I knew the areas with the most impacted were not affected severely at all by the Polar Vortex this winter. Stink bugs are most prevalent in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast and didn’t even experience a true cold snap with the Polar Vortex. In fact this area was much colder last January than it was this year. So i was puzzled.

The sources were from Winter 2014 not, 2019

When I see news stories on science, technology or just about anything with amazing headlines I start looking for links to sources. Most times news organizations are good about linking back to the source. I always want to see the scientific study or journal link to read more. This was one of those times. I started looking for a study or journal that made these 95% claims. A few clicks later and I was shocked. All the stories linked to a website for pest control. The study they referenced was done by researchers at Virginia Tech who conducted only a field experiment back in 2014 after the Polar Vortex that winter. It also appears he research was showed a kill off outside his lab back in 2014 other research showed just 50%. Either way a lot of people didn’t take the time to look at the actual sources of this calim.

Plus even back in 2014 there was conflicting research saying the kill off was not as wide spread as this one single field experiment. The Baltimore Sun even debunked the 95% number back then.

Other News outlets have noticed as well.

Mental Floss and the Reading Eagle have also posted stories now debunking these claims. As we have learned on Social Media when headlines are too good to be true a few more clicks are in order.