Japanese junior high students make air freshener from stink bugs

Not all stink bugs…

A couple years ago, I was out on my veranda when I spotted a cute little green bug on the clothesline. I was about to pick it up, as one does with cute little green bugs, when my wife shouted at me as if I was about to trip a landmine.

Apparently, this was but a harbinger of the stink bug invasion that was about to grip Japan in the following year. Changes in the climate have caused flocks of these critters to be seen all over the place in the warmer seasons. Last summer, I could recall looking out my office window to see one or two clinging to it at any given moment.

And despite their docility and pretty shade of green, they are also known to emit a foul odor as a defense mechanism. I’ve never smelled it myself, having never approached one threateningly enough to trigger it, and quite frankly, they seemed like a very welcome change to the disgustingly large cockroaches and freakishly large spiders that eat said cockroaches.

Still, anytime I talk to a Japanese person about stink bugs, they tend to take on a scowl as if to say, “Oh… them…” It’s a little surprising since they don’t even have the disadvantage of being called “stink bugs” in Japanese. Here they’re called “kamemushi” which literally means “turtle bugs” because they look like little turtles.

▼ Awww… Wook at the widdle turtle bug…

Image: Wikipedia/Orangeaurochs

Apparently, a group of students at the Junior High School of the University of Hyogo shared my lenient attitude towards stink bugs and decided to do something about it. The kids learned that there are over 1,300 species of stink bugs and only some of them actually stink. Others may even emit an odor considered pleasant to human nostrils.

They then got to work collecting 100 stink bugs in their area and then extracting their scents by dabbing their butts in cotton. After two years of research, a stink bug air freshener was created, using the finest fragrances stink bugs can produce.

They presented their results at a project-based learning assembly and other students there had a chance to smell this revolutionary air freshener. Those who tried it called the smell “delicious” with some comparing it to green apples or cookies. One student remarked, “I never would have guessed where it was from if I hadn’t known.”

Readers of the news online applauded the efforts of the students and shared their own views of stink bugs.

“I admire how well they acted on a simple curiosity.”
“I see… So maybe they don’t smell so bad after all. Still, I hate them.”
“One flew into my mouth one day. I spat it out right away but there was a taste in my mouth for days afterward. It wasn’t like a ‘stink’ but more like a mixture of pollens.”
“It’s a great idea, but it might be hard to get people into it like how people still won’t eat crickets. But people who have the power to turn a crisis into a positive have the ability to succeed.”
“I think they smell like coriander.”
“Just to be safe, they should probably make sure it doesn’t attract stink bugs, lol.”
“They even call them ‘stink bugs’ in English though…”

The student researchers hope their findings will lead to both a better image for the bugs and a practical use for them if they continue to be found in large numbers in Japan. If stink bugs can be used as a cheap and renewable source of pleasant aromas we may have to rename them as “misunderstood bugs” in preparation for this exciting new industry.

▼ “What do I do? Oh, I milk stink bugs for a living.”

Image: Pakutaso

Meanwhile, if these children don’t pursue a career in science, they can always get into the fast-paced and rapidly-growing field of spin doctoring.

Source: YTV, Hachima Kiko
Top image: Wikipedia/FML
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