Box Elder bugs
Lisa and Frankie |
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| Not to sound dubm, but what are they? Are they like crickets? because we are getting swamped with crickets here... |
| They are these little bugs that are black with red. They fly. When it gets cool out then we have a warm spell, they cover the sides of your house. We have them so bad this weekend when you walk in the front door they come in. I've never seen them so bad as they are this year. Lisa and Frankie |
| Aren't they lady bugs? I've seen the exact same thing. If there's a warm spell after it cools off, there will be lady bugs all over the west side (sun side) of the house. |
You are doing the proper treatment, vacuuming them up. They are gathering and looking for a place to winter......thinking about inside your house, maybe attic or some other warmish location. They aren't eating anything so insecticide to poison stomach won't work. Contact insecticide, maybe but you'd pollute your home. Keep up with the vacuum, finish with a little squirt of Raid or some such into the vacuum just to be veneful  |
| I have those too, every year-same thing. They are known here as Asian beetles, (I think they are the same thing being referred to above) Amd worse, these bugs also have a pungent odor about them, especially in a sweeper bag, ugh |
| Asian beetles and box elders are different. The asian beetles look like lady bugs. Box elders are flat, and longer than they are wide. We are being pestered by both...plus those nasty little black no see-ums. Our door is on the south side, so it is just disgusting!!  I am least bothered by the box elders at the moment though, as they at least don't bite! |
| Never heard of the box elders so I guess we don't have them. The Japanese ladybugs are a real pain tho and the mosquitos are out in full force. |
| Not to be picky, but there is box elder bug and red shoulder bug. Really only an entomologist would care to know the difference. They are both true bugs......like squash bugs. The Lady bug, Asian bettle or whatever are beetles, different insect family all together. And yes, a lot of those true bugs stink when squished. Here's a like info on their autumnal doings: Quote: In autumn, they can become household and hotel pests. The adult insects seek wintering hibernation locations and find their way into buildings through crevices. They remain inactive inside the walls (and behind siding) while the weather is cool. When the heating systems revive them, they begin to enter inhabited parts of the buildings. In the spring, the bugs leave their winter hibernation locations to lay eggs on maple or ash trees. In late spring and early summer, groups of 50-200+ bugs may gather on house siding or brick, usually in a sunny spot. A month or two later there may be pairs of them mating, connected end to end, also in groups of three and four. Only in severe population years do they do much damage, otherwise, as one smart alec entomologist referred to them as landscape ornaments, adding color and movement to the landscape. Try some soapy water spray 2Tb liquid dish soap per gallon of water. A lot of insect fall to this.....it plugs their breating ports and for dissolves soft bodied insects like aphids. Also boric acid (Roach Pruf) along base of walls might keep box elder bugs from coming in. Actually good weather stripping is your best bet, keep them outside. |
| The "Lady Bugs" occasionally gather in a corner or three of my garage... happens every few years. Since I don't see many of them at all outside and rarely in the garage at all, how do hundreds of them find the way in to gather at the meeting place? I don't know, but when a big one sauntered over, I SWEAR I heard the others yell "NORM!" LOL This year I killed a handful of beetles that looked prehistoric. The were greyish-tan or tannish-grey and had a shield on their backs kind of like the shape of Ohio. Then I was watching the news and there was a story about an invasion of "Stink Bugs" and the pics they showed looked like my invasion force. How do THEY get in? It's not like I'm seeing hundreds of them outside (I saw ONE outside on the patio doors). And they are fairly large, so I'd guess that window gaps are probably out. http://njaes.rutgers.edu/stinkbug/identify.asp |
| Good description Ron. Yes, part of the giant group collectively called "stink bugs." Population levels are cyclic so you must be on a high side right now. They are seeking nice warmish spot for winter "hibernation." It's not a true hibernation, but the term will do here. It's those pheromones that brings them together. Some find a nice spot and release the welcome scent into the air and others come join them. By collecting together they generate some heat as well......not quite like the penguins at the South Pole, but along the line. Lady bugs also have a social gathering for winter. Wherever the winters are mild with a warm microclimate........mountains of the Sierra Nevada in California....even the Sandias here on the east side of Albuquerque, are "beach party" locations for the beetles. People gather these congregations and then sell them to gardeners come spring. Problem is the beetles....they are beetles, not bugs, have to fly off the hibernation chemical so end up leaving the garden where they are released. The neighbors reap the reward, not the person who paid for them. Sink bugs do find their way inside since their body can flatten significantly, any little crevice will do. Window and door frames, soffits, vents, under siding where there might be a hole underneath, etc. Quite often they end up in light fixtures as they are drawn to the heat via the attic or between the ceiling and roof for those with flat roofs....and end up falling into the light fixuture thru some tiny opening. No use gassing yourself with pesticide since their removal isn't that hard. Beetles have a hard shell on their back. The shield as you described for the stink bug is actually a leathery modification of their 1st set of wings. Notice how nicely they overlap. In beetles there is a straight line down the middle of their back.The hard covering is hinged like the old Mercedes Gull Wing, DeLoren, or that new??....hinge on the top. Beetles comprise the largest family in the insect order. There are well over 350,000 different species.  class is over |
| Our area is over-run with stink bugs and has been for the last 4-5 years. We are killing 5-10 a day at our house. They are absolutely vile and the smell is horrid But we are lucky. My sister is in a more rural area and she has 10's of thousands. They are using a leaf blower to get them away from the doors and using a new insecticide with little effect. She said it looks like her roof is moving there are so many. Other's are saying their house looks 3 diminsional. My OCD mother-in-law is on the edge. The bugs like to congregate in curtains, shades, behind pictures, that's driving her absolutely crazy. |
| Sounds like Mom's house needs new weather stripping, etc, brick pointing, etc. No, insecticide for such large bugs is almost futile. Apprently a real nightmare |
| http://www.royalalbertamuseum.ca/natura ... boxeld.htm and other neat bugs! |
| We are overrun with stink bugs here. I have litterally hundreds on the patio. They are very sneaky and I find a few inside every day. We also have European hornets that are just massive, and apparently they love the stink bug larvae. So far nothing works to get rid of them. Skunks do eat them but then which is worse? Really cheap hairspray does help kill them but you have to hit them twice to do it. I know we had dozens dead around the windows on the sunporch and suddenly they were gone - mice love dead ones. Also, some people can't smell them. Vic can't smell 'em which is a problem cause he thinks nothing of smashing one, and then I can't get rid of the smell. At least they don't get into our food or cause any damage! Shellie |
| Seems like they are headed north... |
Ron wrote: Seems like they are headed north... Bite your tongue! |
| Beetles AND Stinkbugs?!? |
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