FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — As temperatures begin to drop in Northwest Arkansas, a familiar and unwelcome visitor is making its presence known once again — the brown marmorated stink bug. This invasive species is back and more active than usual this year, creating a smelly nuisance for residents and raising concerns about potential crop damage.

Originally introduced to the United States from Asia in the 1990s, the brown marmorated stink bug was first recorded in Arkansas in 2013. According to Austin Jones, instructor and director of Undergraduate Education for the Entomology and Plant Pathology Department at the University of Arkansas, these insects are part of a group known as "true bugs."

Jones notes that the milder weather this year — with fewer extended periods of intense heat — has created

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