Michigan residents recently discovered an invasive insect that can strip orchards and fields.

The invasive agricultural pest is the brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys). It's called a stink bug because it releases a pungent odor that smells like coriander when handled by a person. Stepping on the bug results in its odor sticking to one's shoe.

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The bug emits this annoying odor through holes in its abdomen. The odor is a defense mechanism meant to prevent the bug from being eaten by birds, lizards, and from being lifted by humans.

The brown marmorated stink bug is an agricultural pest that causes widespread damage to fruit and vegetable crops. It's a sucking insect that uses its proboscis to pierce host plants to feed.

It's an invasive Asian insect that has decimated fruit crops in in Mid-Atlantic states such as Pennsylvania, and is now in Michigan, surveillance traps show.

The traps were set up by the statewide monitoring program of Michigan State University Extension. The bugs are proving difficult to find except in a few hotspots.

The stink bug nearly three-quarters of an inch in length. It gathers by the tens of thousands overnight, sucking juice from fruits, vegetables and grain said.

The stink bug has been spreading across the United States since 1998 when it was first discovered in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It became a season-long pest in U.S. orchards by 2010.

The invasive bug is from the family Pentatomidae and originated in China, Japan and Taiwan.

TagsStink bug, Asian Stink Bug, invasive insect, agricultural pest, brown marmorated stink bug