There are several pests that are closely related to and resemble good bugs. It can be difficult to tell the difference.

There are sites that show the difference between the pest and the similar looking good bug, but I, personally, have trouble remembering how to differentiate them.

Generally I just observe my plants. If they are largely healthy and undamaged I do not care what is on them. If they are damaged I look to see what is on them and take things from there.

If you google on soldier bug and stink bug you will see images of both, but good luck telling them apart in the garden. If you have a lot of them they probably aren't soldier bugs. Pests always outnumber their prey.

It just takes time and experience. Many pests won't exactly match the pics you see due to regional differences in adaptation.

I think that the very pointed 'shoulders' of the spined soldier bug become obvious once you can see the two insects side by side. It can be pretty difficult, otherwise.

Pick one up, the stinky one is the stink bug.

Kyle

As justaguy2 has stated look at your plants and if the suspect insect is doing no harm, or even very little harm, it can stay. To keep your beneficial insects around they do need some food source and that would be at least a few insect "pests".
If we did eliminate all the bad guys, all the good guys would leave because of a lack of food, and they may not come back when we need them again.

thanks for your help. the pointed "shoulders" tip is a good one.

Try....

Here is a link that might be useful: What's That Bug?

A really good book on bugs is GARDEN INSECTS OF NORTH AMERICA by Whitney Cranshaw. Published by Princton U Press, 2004. It doesn't give controls but has excellent pictures of all the stages of development, so it is a really useful tool for identification. And in the US it retails for only 29.95 (we get charged a lot more in Canada!).