Construction Help Needed-Sealing my Eaves
 

So one the new joys of living in north east these days are visits from Stink Bugs in my home.

http://www.plowhearth.com/images/gui...inkBugMain.jpg

The worst is has been was finding about 50 bugs on my bedroom curtain. Happily, it has never been that bad again since I sealed located a hole I located in my window air conditioner. That said, I still get about 20 in my house a year. I know one port of entry is still my bedroom. One night, I woke up and it was crawling my my face...not cool.

Today, while cleaning out my bedroom storage areas, I found one of those ports of entry...the eaves are not sealed. Not sure if you can see it in these 2 pics.

Here is a picture of the eave.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1422131363.jpg

In this pic, with the lights off, you can see the glow from outside.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1422131379.jpg

My question to you guys is how I should best seal this? I was thinking of getting some of that expandable foam, is that the best approach? Let me know what you guys think.

Yes, go to Home Depot and ask for low expansion CLOSED CELL expansion foam with as small of a tip as they can find. Closed cell foam is a water barrier. Open cell foam absorbs water. Open cell will cause problems.

Stick the nozzle as far back as you can and fill the whole thing. Some will expand past your opening but that's ok. Don't try to wipe it up while it's still liquid. Let it harden a little and shave off the excess with a knife.

It's hard to tell from the pick. if you seal that up, you aren't going to be sealing up your soffit vents, are you?

You shouldn't seal the eaves, need cross ventilation.

A roll of black nylon screen cut in long strips and a stapler will slow them down.

AFAIK for an unheated attic space you need the cross-ventilation.
Heat goes out and new fresh air comes in to replace it.
This airflow cools everything in the attic a bit by itself.

(there is insulation between the rafters so I'm confused where the heat envelope ends)

This is a heated attic space...actually, it is my bedroom. I thought I wouldn't need the ventilation or should I anyway? My bedroom ceiling is the peak of the roof (properly insulated). Does that change the responses?

Thanks for all the help.

Need ventilation IMHO. Ceiling should have Styrovent roof baffles between insulation and sheathing, and a ridgevent at the peak of the roof.

You can seal it. Provide a ridge vent or a thermostatically controlled damper or fan type vent to prevent it from getting too hot in summer.

Putting mesh everywhere works too but you'll be sure to have one or more areas you can't get to on existing construction.

There are other options. Stew, or fried with spices?

Eat your bugs - harvesting edible stink-bugs.

Stink-bugs are used in some cultures to add flavour to stews. In Venda they are eaten for their own sake.The edible stink-bug Encosternum delegorguei (Heteroptera, Tessaratomidae) known in Venda as 'thongolifha', is a useful winter harvest. Unlike the mopane worm, or Mashonzha, which overwinters underground in the subterranean pupa stage before turning into the mopane emperor moth, thongolifha overwinter in the adult stage and never go underground. This means that the fully grown thongolifha can be harvested in winter when there is little other food available.

Harvesters selling the prepared stinkbugsIn a group of 8 women collectors studied, it was found that the edible stink-bugs are collected at dawn while it is cold and they are less mobile. As the day warms up the bugs become extremely vigilant and fly away when disturbed. In South Africa's northern province of Limpopo and in its eastern province of Mpumalanga, the stinkbugs are harvested with naked hands and the defensive secretions of the bugs causes a characteristic orange stain. In some other regions the hands may be protected with a plastic bag. The harvested bugs are collected in large woven plastic bags, such as those used for maize meal.

Preparing the meal

Edible stink-bugs left to sundry.Edible stinkbugs after harvesting.The first step in the preparation is to separate all dead bugs, leaves and debris from the live bugs. The live bugs are placed in a bucket and a small amount of warm water is added before the bugs are stirred with a wooden spoon. This causes the bugs to release their alarm or defensive pheromones. The overpowering cloud of defensive secretions is so strong that it hurts the eyes and the harvesters turn their heads away and close their eyes to protect them. After a while, warm water is added and the insects are rinsed.

This process is repeated three times before the insects are boiled in water and killed. If any dead bugs are accidentally left with the live bugs, it is not possible for the dead bugs to release their defence secretions. These bugs can be identified during subsequent quality control because their ventral surface is blackened by the stink glands and they are rejected for human consumption. The cooked bugs are then sun dried on an empty maize bag.

The preparation procedure above can only be used for live bugs, so an alternative preparation is used for dead bugs. The heads of the dead bugs are removed and the thorax and abdomen are squeezed between the thumb and index finger. This causes a translucent pale green gland to be exuded through the neck of the dead insect, and this is wiped off on a rock. The bugs are then boiled and sun-dried as in the previous procedure. The dried
bugs may be eaten as snacks or sold at the markets. They can also be fried with salt and a little water, until the water evaporates and then served with pap (mealie meal).

Even with insulation, it still breathes. **I hope no one would close up any attic ventilation. It would be a disaster. Daily cycle of heat / cool leads to condensation, hence water saturation and not escaping, then the mold sets in. Yikes-

Anyhow, regarding the OP and these stink bugs. I've never heard of them, but is there some repellent or pesticide available? Perhaps strategically place some traps?