Boxelder bug
Courtesy Bruce Marlin
Beware, boxelder bugs may have a huge population explosion this fall. Turns out boxelder bugs operate on a ten year cycle. Between years seven and ten, the bugs tend to be the most reproductively active. What year are we in? Year eight.
Boxelder bug characteristics
As an adult, boxelder bugs reach a length of ½ inches. They are mostly black with red lines decorating their backs. Typically, these bugs become a nuisance during the fall and early spring.
Boxelder bugs eat a host of plants. However, they tend to favor boxelder seed pods found on female boxelder trees. If there is a female boxelder tree in you neighborhood then the odds of having a boxelder infestation increases.
Boxelder bugs seek shelter in protected places. Typical shelter areas include cracks or crevices in walls, doors, under windows and around foundations. The bugs particularly favor south and west exposures.
Boxelder bug eradication
Here are some tips if boxelder bugs sneak into your dwellings:
Lastly, remember boxelder bugs are not able to survive more than a few days indoors and are essentially harmless. So check now, make sure your house is sealed before the boxelder population explosion hits!
If the bugs are essentially harmless, why are you so worried and determined to exterminate them?
To me, it seems more dangerous to be handling and spreading a toxin such chlorpyrifos around the home than to have a few (or even many) harmless bugs that can't survive indoors anyway.
Awareness pertaining to boxelder bug populations paired with a hypothesized population explosion this upcoming fall was the main objective of this post. Individuals certainly embrace different likes and dislikes. More times than not, when an unwanted bug creeps into a person’s house they try a rid of the foreign visitor.
Charles, you are correct in stating utilization of chlorpyrifos is toxic. In fact, upon research I discovered it has been banned in retail due to compromising the nervous systems of exposed organisms. The EPA’s decision to phase out chlorpyrifos was due to the potential health risks to children. However there are other eradication options for individuals who wish to rid of boxelder bugs inhabiting their homes. Refer to the original post for further insight. Thank you for your comment.
When the outside of your house becomes covered in the seven to eight digits of these bugs, and you can no longer tell what color your house was, then you will understand what is meant by "population explosion." They will get into every nook and crany of the house, including your bed, food, etc. I would rather have a bees nest in my house than these horrible little bugs. They infestation will last for 8 months out of the year, you will do anything and everything to be rid of them, and you will strongly consider moving rather than dealing with them an longer.
Actually they do live indoors, as I have many in my basement
they are also outside bugs and my parents say they are gross!!! my thoughts are they are not harmful but are very buggy!!=)
Box elder beetle infestations are fairly gross as seen by most people. Nine years ago, just having bought my house and erected a board fence (next to my neighbour's box elder tree), I was seriously thinking of putting my house back on the market, since the "nests" of bugs sitting on top of the fence at one time would be the size of a football. Their presence made sitting next to the pool extremely undesirable and their eradication was next to impossible. I started with a liquid soap spray (which did work temporarily), gradually moving to stronger insecticides. I am now sufficiently put off, that next year (when they should be at their peak of reproduction), I'm taking a blow torch to them. Having spoken to a local pest control company, I've realized that there seems to be no simple way of ridding oneself of this type of pest infestation ~ hence the blow torch. If anyone else has a better solution, please advise!
Well, Charles, let me explain to you. We bought and moved into our home last December and were overpopulated with these critters. They were EVERYWHERE!!! I would vacuum them all out the rooms and in no time at all, usually the same day, there were more of them!! Having company over or having dinner for family was a nightmare because they all thought you didn't keep house very well, bugs crawling all over. I will do whatever it takes to kill these guys off and not be allowed back into my house!
The bug may be harmless to the structure of the house and the people inside, but they leave this unsightly brown bug pooh everywhere they die. Having to wash the walls, doors and base boards weekly is a big pain in my a**. And don't forget about waking up to one crawling all over you in the middle of the night.
Bring on the bug spray!!
I live in Minnesota. We have vacuumed thousands of these pesky insects. They can't survive indoors? Here we are in mid January and they are everywhere!!!!
Is there a "bug trap" or something non toxic in order to eradicate this problem?? HELP.
Try Box Elder B-GONE. It kills them, and is not chemically toxic- all the ingredients are listed as minimum risk chemicals, so safe to use. Always test on a spot, but in general you should have no problems with staining. Nice to use to at least kill the ones you see. Also nice you don't have to worry about chemicals.
Minnesota based company too!!
They've completely taken over my upstairs bathroom... I've contemplated feeding them to my anoles, that's why I googled them, I wanted to know if they were toxic at all. My dog eats them, but he's weird so any odd behavior is never discernable from his regular behavior...
they go away soon and they are harmless. Im from ill and after they left we go hit with ladybug infestation and they arent harnless they eat your crops and bight so there is something to look forward to.
Box Elder bugs my be harmless but in mass they become a major pain. They are found everywhere in your home if they fing a single point of entry. At any given time I can count 100 of them on the south wall of my home.
bugs!!!!!they feel disgusting!! what if they were in ur bed one night?would u freak? or would u not mind?
actually, the fact that a full blown infestation is more like an invasion. Imagine your front porch, 10 x 10, 1 inch thick with these beetles...... I don't like that, but happens every spring into the summer.
I like to collect these bug and use them against my foes.
actually they bite, because I had two of them on me and I felt a pinch. It itched for about a week so i went to the doctor and she said all that it was was that the bug bite me, and it would continue to itch for the next week
Everything I read about Boxelder bugs says that they will only lay their eggs on the boxelder trees. However, I have 100's of clusters of eggs around my house, in the texture of the cedar shakes, in the corners of windows, along the drip edge of the roof line. What gives? I power washed the house a couple of weeks ago to knock down the eggs, but the bug population hasn't been abated and they are right back to laying eggs on my house. I've been spraying them with an insecticide specifically designed for Boxelder bugs (I don't know the active ingredients off hand) but it doesn't seem to be doing anything to knock down the numbers. They are pooping all over my house and it is quite gross. Do you have any suggestions? I do not know of any Boxelder trees in the immediate area, however several of my neighbors have very large silver maple trees and I have a couple of sugar maples.
Through researching an answer to your question, I have found numerous reputable sites stating people run into problems when selecting to rid their homes of boxelder bugs. For some, power washing is a success while others use insecticides. Some people even resort to vacuuming to rid their house of boxelder bugs!
I have emailed Professor Ascerno, an entomologist at the University of Minnesota, and asked him your question. I will post back when I have an answer.
Jeff Hahn from the University of Minnesota's Department of Entomology replied:
"The warm spring and dry summer we experienced were very conducive to boxelder bug numbers and they are well above normal in abundance this year. This is why you are seeing so many. While they prefer boxelder trees, they do not feed exclusively on them; they also may feed on maple or ash seeds. Eggs can be on the ground where seeds occur. In years like this one, when numbers are so high, eggs can be laid just about anywhere as food resources become more competitive. Boxelder
bug numbers have been noticeable since late June. I know what you are seeing as I have large numbers of the nymphs around my house.Controlling them will be difficult, as anything you do will be just temporary. Soapy water can kill them (test a small spot before treating the entire house to be sure that it doesn't
stain). There are many insecticides that are registered for use around the exterior of homes which you can use. You will have to repeat any application you make. Otherwise it is a matter of waiting for colder weather to arrive. Immature boxelder bugs will not survive the winter."
I have the same problem as MikeB. I even found some eggs on my couch pillow. I freaked out and threw the whole couch out, wondering where else they have layed their eggs.
Thanks for the additional research. In the mean time I've been working to eliminate their food supply by using the bagging attachment on my mower and sucking up the maple seeds. I've also been blowing the seeds off the front stoop and driveway daily. The numbers seem to be down, but it may just be the cooler weather over the last week too.
I am being overrun by these Boxelder bugs. I seem to have them in my shop year around. In the winter months they seem to come out and fly around in the shop when I turn on the heat. There is no plant life in this shop and it was built 3 years ago so I can't imagine a food source of timber rot or mold or???. Also I am wondering if they are canibals. I find piles of body shells in the corners of the service door(this happens to be the only source of natural light)which I suspect they may be attracted to.
Do Boxelder bugs go dormant and re-animate the following season?
I am concerned that they have gotten into the attic of my house. Has anyone noticed signs of them surviving if not thriving inside of a house?
Thanks for any input.
We too have had hundreds of these bugs coming indoors. The Box elder trees were removed two years ago but the bugs persisted. I got serious about it this Spring. Next to the house, under the porch and under some leaves the bugs were simply teeming. Hundreds and hundreds of them. I was using a can of Wasp spray to get rid of two Wasp nests next to the back door and when I saw this infestation of Boxelder bugs I just started spraying! It worked! I then cleared out all the grasses and leaves any where near the South side of the house and just sprayed. It was obviously their nesting place. I covered them with spray! The next day, the bugs were gone...not ONE remained.
Now that fall has begun a few have returned. I have once again used the Wasp spray all around the edges of the house and the windows and the areas they were nesting. I use a mask and gloves.
I know it is a strong chemical but I tried ALL of the options that were less aggressive with no success. There are no flowering plants near, just ornamental grasses so I am hoping no bees will be affected.
We were too late. We've got them by the thousands, literally, all through and on our home. They are inside our siding, throughout our garage and attic space. We have too many tress around our property to fight them. DO they go dormant in the winter? Are there any bug bomb (gas) type products that will kill them. We've spraying the house with soapy water every day and they die, but are instantly replaced. HEEELLLLPPP!
My girlfriend's apartment building (in East Lansing, Michigan) is infested. Interestingly, they seem to stay in the common areas -- we haven't seen any inside the apartment proper. Plus, it only seems to be her building -- other nearby buildings are not affected.
I sprayed the doors and windows of the main entrance with Raid, and that seemed to get rid of most of them. (Of course,t he very next day we had a cold snap, which no doubt had a lot to do with their disappearance, too.)
-- Gene
I just bought a home in East Lansing, and am infested, too. Never had them when on the westside of Lansing. I kill a couple in my home every day; I realize this is very modest compared to many of you, but they are still disgusting. And I hate the smell they make when they are smashed (it is, undeniably, somewhat satisfying to stomp them).
In my house there are literally thousands!!! It scares me really bad. I once counted 60 all at the same time. I alos vacuumed up 37 of them , which I thought was unusually alot. I think that they can somehow liv ein my house because they seem to be striving in it. Please somebody help me get rid of these nasty bugs!!
There are THOUSANDS! of them on the siding & HUNDREDS! inside the house. Most die within a few days but some last all winter in the house. Just vacuum them up.
I would like to know why box elder bugs sit on my garage door when they can be in all different places besides there but i think it has something to do with the color of the garage it is white
i think that they are really nice and harmless they are the cutest bug on earth.
P.S. they make good pets!
these bugs are pretty much harmless. i have no idea why people are so scared of them and stuff.
Because they are pest. You don't see just a few, I have hundreds. I read somewhere that they are attracted to yellow and guess what color my house is.....yellow. They cover the front of my house on the south and southwest and east where the sun hits. They are gross....I think they are such a nucience I spray them with soapy water and I could stand out there all day and spray with soapy water and they just keep coming back! They get under our siding and shudders door mat, mulch, or just lay around all over the porch and our garage door. We are selling our house and I am afraid that they will not the sell...who wants a house with bugs all over it.
I want to know how boxelder bugs fit into the ecosystem as prey. Are they an "island" of their own in the food chain? Could there be a ecologically responsible expansion of a population of predators to naturally control the boxelder bug population? What research has been done on this idea?
Stephanie,
As far as I know, the Preying Mantis is it's natural predator. I'm not sure what else is. I too have an infestation of these this year, and I will be switching to diazanon. I'm tired of the natural way.
My husband sprays diazanon around the outside perimiter of our home 2-3 times a year and we still get them. But, compared to a lot of other places it is only a few. We no longer have masses. Maybe the spring spray kills at least some of the eggs. We do seem to have less each year.
Around my house, through out much of the fall we had woodpeckers constantly pecking at the boxelder bugs. Unfortunately I don't know how much they really helped as it still seems, and I guess is very likely, they are coming out of the wood work.
I think that we already use enough chemicals (eg. on food, for house cleaning, etc.) so why should we use more on box elder bugs. The toxins used to exterminate the bugs are probably mre harmful thatn the bugs themselves.
We live in North Georgia and have never seen these boxelders before!!!! We have them all over the side of our house and they get in every night! What to do, what to do??????
I know someone who has them all over their house are they of harm to you? What happens if you are sleeping and you have them crawling on you? What if you eat one or they crawl into your ears.
They're harmless. They don't bite, they don't sting. One crawling on you while you're sleeping, wouldn't cause anything more than a ticklish sensation. I don't think that anyone's studied the toxicity of ingesting large numbers of boxelder bugs, but I'm sure one won't kill you. And I suppose one could crawl into your ear, but since they don't bite or scratch, it would likely just crawl right back out again.
You all seem content to say boxelder bugs are harmless - well I was just woke up by one that crawled into my ear. I dealt with it for about 20 minutes - it sounded like my ear was popping and I started to think I had wax issues until he finally crawled back out. I can't even sleep again now - I AM DESPERATE TO GET RID OF THESE BUGS!!! My 3 yr old daughter woke up screaming two nights ago because one was crawling on her arm and I can hardly get her to sleep in her bed now. These bugs are taking over our lives at this point.
Boxelder bugs are certainly a nuisance. Using dishwashing liquid mixed with water will kill them immediately. Once I had hundreds of the little buggers on the south side of my home. I filled my gallon sprayer with water and I added about a fourth cup of dishwashing liquid (Palmolive or Ajax seem to work well) and I began spraying. Most of them were headed to bug heaven before I was finished.
Thank you Lochinvar! Thank you soo much!
The outside of my house has been infested with box elder beetles. I didnt know what to do. Terminix pest service came out and told me that there was nothing that really worked to kill them, and that I should not worry about them because they will most likely stay outside and not bother us. We'll they WERE bothering me! They covered my deck! You couldn't take two steps without crushing twenty of them!
I tried filling my gallon sprayer with water and dish soap like you said and it worked wonders! I'd say the big ones lasted about 10 seconds, but most of them died in about 5 seconds. I felt like "Rambo" out there, killing by the thousands. It was quite fulfilling. I think im going to start spraying once a month to keep them away. The only drawback was that the dish soap dissolved my deck sealer, and now i have to re-seal it. Oh well, $15.00 and an hour of spraying will seal it right back up! Small price to pay if you ask me.
Thanks again!
We have seen them by the millions on a south wall at Alexandria MINN.
once at my house 2 boxelder bugs came from my grandpas house in my dads car and now every summer they comeback in the hundreds. i hate it because when i open the garage door with the number pad i kill about 5 every time i push a number
I have an system cut in around the perimeter of our basement called the Beaver System....it is simply to let any water from the inside roll to the out sides of the basements walls and drain into the main drain to lead out to the sump pump drain tube. Is this were these boxelder bugs can get in as well???? I vacuum about 300 a day off my walls, steps, ceilings, cords and everything! They dont even just look for flat surfaces! These guys are acrobats as well!!! Any more suggestions?
Are they ok to feed to my pet Bearded Dragon?
I don't know why people are freaked out by boxelder bugs! They've actually helped my daughter get over her fear of insects. We find about one a day somewhere in our house and pick them up to put them outside. They tickle a bit when they're on you but very gentle. I'm not saying I love having them inside but really don't want to kill them. I'd be much more concerned about other insects such as as mosquitos, bees, wasps etc. They can be dangerous and spread diseases.
Amen to that. My 6 year old daughter was terrified of bugs and spiders. Now it's not so bad. She'll never let them crawl on her but she doesn't scream every time there is a bug in her room. This is all due to the Box Elder bug which I've shown her you can hold and let crawl on you. My 18 month old boy picks them up all the time. He crushes them between his fingers, he eats them, laughs when they crawl on his arm. He tries to hug them but more often than not his head smashes them. ;) It's great entertainments and he's never gotten sick from them. They are harmless!
As far as keeping them out of your homes....you have to seal the windows and doors and dryer vents, etc. with caulk because the bugs will go in there at night to sleep and then in the morning when they want to go outside to sun themselves again they go the wrong way and end up inside your walls, etc. It's worth the investment to caulk your house anyway because it saves on your heating/cooling bill. A good way to find drafts is to hold up a think piece of thread by all the places listed above and if it moves you know there's a crack to be sealed.
Anyway... that's all.
If you think you have probelems, you should see my house! It's full of those litte creatures!
Gross!!!!!!!!
Oh my gosh these creepy crawlie things are going to make me crazy!!! I am going to kill them.. I don't think there is nothing wrong with killing these things, they aren't endangered and I sure don't want them in my house! I am going to destroy these thinggys.....
at my house we get box elder bugs and they like our house because its really warm and the suns shines alot.
Well, they are still life! Show some respect for the poor arthropods!!!
Milce - you obviously don't have a clue about the scope of the problem. I live in the Portland, OR area. In October, we see 100,000s of them on our house. It's like a Hitchcock scene - the house literally swarms with them. The problem is their population is exploding beyond normal measures. From October to May, they'll be swarming the house. When it gets cold, they climb into any nook and cranny, jamming 1000s of them in a big swarming mass. Any time the day warms up above 40 degrees, they start crawling out. There will be so many thousands of them in any given area on south and west facing walls, that you won't be able to stand still. Regardless that they don't bite, it's still an insanely gross experience. I'm a guy ... a big burly, guys guy. I ate worms and bugs as a kid to gross out the girls. I served in the USMC. I've seen war time. Yet, they gross me out big time. You ever have hundreds of them crawling all over you, swarming in your nose, your eyes, in your ears? You open a window and 20 minutes later, youv'e got a hundred of them in your bedroom. For some reason, they love the back of my neck. I can't tell you how many times I've woken up with them crawling on the back of my neck. I've gone to work, been sitting at my desk, and then one crawls up on my neck - it had hitchhiked a ride with me to work, then crawled on my neck. I was having sex with my wife once, and she had 3 of them on her legs. It just plain freaks you out after a while. We can't enjoy our patios because there are thousands of them in the way. We can't have guests over because it's just plain disgusting, and your friends, no matter how much you explain it's just a bug infestation, nothing to do with your hygiene, they all think your a sick S.O.B. and won't come by any more. Ever have one crawl across your dinner plate? I'm not making any of these up. They are truly a pest by shear fact of their numbers. Plus they shit all over the window ledges, and you have to wash the windows and ledges every week or two to get rid of all of the little brown shit stains they leave.
I will kill them. I will decimate them. I will murder every last one of these bastards. I invest in real estate, and I've had two properties that swamred the houses. You simply can't sell a house from November until April at best since no one in their right mind will buy a house who's exterior walls are crawling like they're alive. Ever see a hysterical house wife scream and smack her husband, demanding they leave immediately, just when you hoped to finally close the deal on a property? We're talking 6,000 to 8,000 sq ft mansions. Very swank property. It's cost me tens of thousands if not more in lost money.
Blow torches, chemicals, soap sprays - I don't care what it takes, I will eradicate them at the first signs. I have a guy that works for me now that just goes around once a week to all of the properties in my portfolio and sprays them with soap water every week to keep the numbers down. This is war. Not one I'm going to lose.
Pay attention to these postings - they're telling a story of people completely fed up and grossed out with the infestations.
SG is right. I also live in Oregon and these box elder beetles are pests. My house has rough sawen horizontal cedar siding and these guys get underneath the siding and every other nook and cranny. The warmth of the sun brings them out. they mostly like the south and west facing sides. There are many maple and ash trees on the property. What I do to get rid of them is vacuum them when come out to sun themselves. To coax more out of their hiding places I tap on the wall, they crawl out and get vacuumed. It's a two story house so I have to climb a ladder to get many of them. I did this October and Nov. 2007. I thought I got them all. No. there must millions of them. They'er back, end of Feb. now Mar. 2008 I have vacuumed thousands more of them. Other people have written in that they vacuum. But have not said what they do with them after they vacuum. I bury them alive. Although many are dead from the trauma of the vacuum some are still crawling around. Shovel, dump vacuum container, cover with dirt and grass, tamp down. I really hate killing the poor things. But when a dozen or two get inside the house, it's time for them to go. It's real buggy when I watch TV an.d one falls from the ceiling onto my head, face, chest. Chemicals are a last resort. I wish the birds would eat more of them. So the vacuum will be getting a workout for the next few months. If anyone has a better idea, without chemicals, let us know. Maybe biological?
We have a cedar shingle house and these bugs are everywhere!!!! It's only March in Ohio and already my house is covered. I am constantly killing these bugs, they are all over my kitchen which faces South. It wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't so many of them. You can't come in through my back door without bringing several in with you. I wish there was something mor you could do about these pests!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
These bugs are driving me nuts! I have little girls at my house for my daughters birthday and they are freaking out! I feel like I have roaches. Once they are inside your house, how do you get rid of them?
You all are psyco!!!( but in a good way !!! :) Those bugs are gross and annoying someone needs to make soemthing to get rid of these annyoing things. They make me sick. Anyways what do we do just let them live in our house and scare people all the time!!!
Suck it up, bugs are bugs, and there always going to be there...besides, dragonflys eat misquitoes [sp?]
I just came in from outside and I have hundreds of these box elders on my garage door and around the foundation of the garage. I am on the computer looking for a way to kill them, nip them in the bud so to speak. This is the first or second really warm day here in Northern Wisconsin. We moved into this house in the fall and had them then in the same spot. Do they "winter" and come back in the Spring? It appears that they are emerging from the crack between the drive and garage foundation. I have a cedar sided house with shaker shingles......am I doomed? Will they live there all winter? I am waiting for it to get dark and I am going to pour bleach in the cracks. From what I have read above, they appear to be indestructible as are the asian beetles which I have had minor experiences with. I did see several pesticides at various site claiming to be the answer but I would love to hear what others have done. I too am disgusted by these little guys, harmless or not...THEY ARE GROSS! If you have any answers, please post. Thanks! Suz in Wisconsin
I am from MN and have been going crazy all spring, I have been killing literally hundreds of them every day. We have them in all shapes and sizes, I have never seen anything like it. I spray them with Dawn dish soap mixed in water, it kills them on contact but they seem to reproduce at incredible rates. It is becoming an obsession.
I have been to a number of sites to try to find a way to get rid of these gross little things!!!!
The first thing tomorrow I'm off to the store for caulking for the windows (inside and out), spray foam for any cracks in the foundation and siding, a sprayer for soap/water mixture, and a few cans of Raid couldn't hurt either!!
I'm sooo sick of these things, I have tons outside and luckily I have only found a few inside. Just about every site I have gone to says 'oh just vacuum them up'. Give me a break!!! I don't want them inside at all!!!
Hopefully this will help....the next step is to chop down, put up by the roots, and/or burn down that damn Boxelder tree in my neighbor's yard. Okay, sorry that was a little extreme, I'm really not the crazy lady next door! I just want these bugs DEAD!!!
Hi,
I agree. We just bought a house and a stipulation we required the seller to remove the tree from in front of the house. Well, they are still there and I'm ready to call the bank and tell them we are going to do a voluntary foreclosure. I've been there and seen them and it's disgusting. They look like roaches with wings. I've read so many websites on how to keep them down. Well, I WANT THEM GONE. It's terrible when you buy a house and would rather have your credit go to toilet than worry about these pests. Why buy a house when you can't live it in or even have company over? There has got to be a more permanent way or getting rid of these bugs. Are they attracted to certain colors of the home? Do I have to paint it purple or black to keep them off the house? We had locusts in MD one year and the state used a chemical and got rid of them. I'm about ready to go to the city where we just purchased this home from and have them do something about them. You can't live this way and I shouldn't be put out of a home I haven't even moved in yet because of these darn things. I'm sorry but, a vacuum cleaner and dish liquid is not a fix. It's a temp solution and just to say they aren't that bad when you come from a home pests free it is gross. I'm seriously debating on foreclosure and let the darn things have the house.
Well, anyone who is saying that having these bugs in your house is no big deal certainly doesn't have an infestation in their house! Everytime I walk by our west-facing patio door, it is covered with bugs, and there's more crawling across the carpet towards the couches, and more flying around. This is not the occassional fly or spider kind of issue. It is horrible.
I live in Michigan and it is only March and the house is full of these awful bugs!!! This morning when I was getting my 8 month old dressed, one was crawling on his neck. I am freaking out. I don't want to use pesticides because I don't want my child to be harmed by them. Soapy water does not work. I have tried everything. I am walking around killing them all the time, PLEASE HELP!!!!!
We also have the bugs and they are obnoxious but we have been able to deal with them. We have found that by spraying all the trees in our yard with a non toxic soap and water helps slightly with the population in your house.
Ok, so everyone hates the bugs! What gets rid of them? I don't want to "control" the infestation, I want them GONE! I probably kill 10-20 a day and it's not even warm yet. Has anyone gotten rid of them? How?? HELP!
HELP! It's an invasion, they are everywhere, taking over every space they can. I personally think that we are doomed. I wonder if they are good for anything? If a person could come up with at least one good idea to market and sell them, well, that would probably be the only way to get rid of them..... I would probably pay money for that.
Ok basically everyone says they don't like them. I don't either. Has anyone been successfull in getting rid of them? I have not.
i thought the object of the month is kind of fascinating with the falcon head.
I also live in Wisconsin and they are on my house by the hundreds. I went out and bought a 5 gallon sprayer and filled it with water and 1/3 cup of Dawn dish soap. I just walk around the house everyday and spray them. They die within minutes. But they will be back so you have to do it everyday.
Good Luck
blaine, minn. they are here by the thousands. only solution in the house is fly swaters. outside, soap, soap, soap. rake up your leaves, burn them. buzzing in blaine.
Boxelder bugs
The south side of our home is covered, along with the bark mulch around the house. They have also entered the house and we are constantly killing them inside. We also have a few large boxelder trees in the area. I spray the bugs and trees with soap and water, but its an unending job. I am thinking of spraying with amonia. Has anyone tried that? Are there insecticide products that can be sprinkled around the foundation to keep them out?
Yup,,,that's what I've got too. Lots of them! But they don't bother me, and I try to ignore them. They just don't look too good crawling across champagne colored carpeting. And no one likes to admit their house has "bugs". Just vacuun them up or flush them.
What I REALLY find annoying is a huge blooming of fish flies in the summers when they're having a major hatch. Also (not a bug, but also a natural occurrence), when the cottenwood fluff is so heavy it looks like snowdrifts rolling into the garage. It seems to be attracted to the air-conditioning unit too.
I'm getting ready to chop down my 3 huge maples because I CAN'T DEAL WITH IT! Those of you who say they aren't a problem are NOT LISTENING! My daughter is scared to go in her own back yard because they land in her hair, the grass is TEEMING with them, and no amount of dilute dishwashing liquid (I keep a hose end sprayer full of Dawn for easy killing) does any more than a momentary fix (it's good for my soul.)
I refuse to move, so the trees will have to go.
I'm amused by those who say boxelder bugs are gross. Personally, I think they look really neat. And they are gentle. You can pick them up and they will stay on your hand until you put them down or blow them off. They are harmless and have never been bitten. And the fact that your daughter freaks out by them landing in her hair, you need to educate her that they will not hurt her. You are probably part of the problem since you seem to be freaked out yourself. Don't get me wrong. I can sympathize with those who are getting hundreds of them in their house. That is a bit too much of a good thing. But you are simply complaining about them flying around outside. Seems a bit absurd to cut down perfectly good maple trees just to get rid of harmless bugs. Sounds like you have a nice country property. If so, you got to expect more bugs then in the city. And you will most likely see more birds as well. Enjoy them instead of getting your nickers all in a twist. (just a bit of English humor, and no, I am not English, just enjoy English comedy is all.) I'm also amused that someone said they would rather have an infestation of bees. Now that is an absurd thing to say.
If you cut down your maple trees you may be disappointed at the results. We cut down 6 box elder trees in our yard 3 years ago, and this year our infestation is worse than ever. I wonder if we took away their home so they decided to use ours!
fabulous, we need more of the pesty bugs!
Interestingly enough, we have cedar siding which was covered by vinyl. We have removed the vinyl. These bugs were living under the vinyl siding and there were thousands of them. All over the house every time the sun came out. For the time being they are gone. I hope it stays that way.
We have had them on the house for years. They did get inside sometimes, but it wasn't ever a real problem, just a nuisance with a handful every night.
If you mix up a strong solution of dish soap in a spray bottle it will kill them when sprayed directly on them. No need for the strong chemicals, it is quite effective.
I just caught a boxelder, they aren't bad but are cute!!!!!!!
SUCCESS!! We went to Home Depot and bought insecticide and a sprayer. We sprayed the outside of the house - where the brick meets the siding, along the roof shingles, around the windows, around the gutters and downspouts, etc, etc. We did it about three weeks in a row. It's been a month and so far only a few box elders in the house. I'm sure we'll need to do it again but it's 99.9% better!
At LAST! After reading, and reading, and reading - someone says they found a cure! *ALAS* **SOB** They didn't say WHAT insecicide they used!
OH! WOE IS ME! Now I'll have to continue my search.
HOWEVER, I believe I am powerfully blessed! I recently rented an old house that has been vacant for - by some reports - four YEARS. There were dead Boxelder beetle husks in the air ducts by the hundreds (not thousands!) and a few bugs inside the house - and hundreds more crawling around the attic vents - and some living inside the overhang of the ship-lap siding. But I don't seem to have NEAR the problem that SOME folks are having. Perhaps these critters don't like Utah's high altitude and wet winter?
None the less, I find them annoying. They cluster on the window that faces south when it warms up (this is mid October and it's just beginning to have alternating days of warm and cold weather - with the occasional rain / snow shower).
I keep a "Dirt Devil" handy and suck them up when I seen them crawling around the inside of the house - I have a part time temporary job at a Home Depot store, so I'll ask the lawn and garden trouper and try to get an answer.
Meanwhile, I give thanks for my blessings - and for a Wal*Mart Dirt Devil that only cost me something on the order of $15 over a year ago. (Yeah, it says don't wash the filter - replace it - but replacements are expensive and washing seems to be harmless - so long as it is completely dry before putting it back in. -- I suppose some day it will fall apart or get clogged beyond washing, but until then.......)
ohmygosh! boxelder bugs are SO disgusting! i have some at my house, and they are nasty! i hope that they die forever
I don't like those bugs either. We live in Minnesota and we have them on our house too!
I have a problem with these bugs too. Mainly outside, luckily I only have a few inside the house. This is what I have done that seems to work to knock down the population.
Every couple of weeks I spray the outside of the house where the bugs are the most with a can of Raid. I also spray down all the bugs on the south side of the house with the garden hose everyday, except for the day when I sprayed the Raid. I did this for a couple of months and there are a lot less bugs around!! I have found only a few dead bugs inside the house between the window screen and the window. I also caulked all gaps in the siding and around the windows on the south side of the house. Doing this is a lot cheaper than some of the insecticide products out there, a can of Raid and a tube of caulk cost a few dollars and spraying down the house just takes time.
I'm sure this is an on going thing until my neighbor cuts down his tree. But at least the Box Elder bugs did not get the best of me this year! And I don't have to deal with them inside the house any more! Hope this helps....good luck!
I have a female Boxelder tree in my yard so I am used to Boxelder bugs.
I hate bugs and I think boxelder bugs are not very cool. I always wake up to find at least 3 on my pillow.
I have a female Box Elder Tree in my small backyard, my neighbor has the male tree. We have the worst infestation ever, they are everywhere, and I cannot spray the Dawn quick enough to kill all the herds, living on various parts of the fencing, ground, base of our house, and it is really starting to tick me off. I am tired of cleaning them out of my pool. I would love to cut the tree down, but it is the only tree we have to shade our house. I just dont get it, where are they all still coming from, I have killed numerous, adults while mating, larva, and immature herds, but still more just keep congregating. I need a new plan, any suggestions?
You need to cut down that female tree. It is not the male tree in your neighbors yard, it is your tree. That is their food supply, and they will continue to multiply by the thousands, until you cut it down. You'll just have to plant a new tree - but from what I hear - do NOT plant a maple, as that is an alternative food source for them.
No one has mentioned any damage that these bugs have on the trees. I found an infestation of them at the base of a 15 year old King Crimson maple that died two winters ago. Could they have been the demise of the tree? I have an unbelievable maple tree several yards away and I can't tell you how awful it would be if we lost that tree. Do these bugs kill the trees they eat?
Upon my first searches I found some sites say that box elder bugs cause little damage to trees. But the entry for these suckers on Wikipedia says that when their, "population soars, they can damage useful shade trees." Unfortunately none of these entries list definitive sources for these claims.
This lead me to look a little further for some more authoritative information. The state of California's Integrated Pest Management Program seemed like they ought to know a thing or two about these bugs and their entry on boxelder bugs is very thorough. After reading through this I think I can safely say that boxelder bugs are likely not a big danger to trees. Here it is in their words:
The bugs do little damage to ornamental trees. They may occasionally cause puckering or distortion of fruit in commercial orchards, but this is rarely a significant problem. They do not injure people or pets, but when they come indoors they can be annoying and may spot curtains, furnishings, and clothing with their excrement. When crushed, they give off an offensive odor. They do not breed indoors. If trapped in basements or houses, they will eventually die.
They go on to say that the only real management concern they have about boxelder bugs is keeping them out of homes where people will be annoyed by them. Luckily they don't breed indoors so if they become trapped in your building they will eventually die out...but yeah then there is that awful smell....
Final conclusion, boxelder bugs, still somewhat evil, but not totally evil.
I am in central Illinois. A few months ago in mid-April, we bought red mulch for a few plant bedding areas - - - I think they had the box elder eggs in them, because about a month ago, they began literally crawling with them. It is almost surreal to watch when the box elders are little because they are red and the mulch is red, and there are so many of them, it is almost as if the mulch is moving. I have used the dish soap method with some success, but have had to reapply a few days later. I am going to keep doing it every few days for the next few weeks and see if I can't get rid of them. They are only about two feet from my house and from the sounds of it, I don't want to have them there when it gets colder.
RED MULCH from Home Depot. Yes, last fall my husband purchased from Hojme Depot REd Mulch and that was the beginning. Where did you buy your mulch from?-Wendy
I live in north central illinois, and I have never seen such a display of over populating boxelder bugs. They have literally killed my established mum flower, they are in the process of killing my new Clematis plant. They have completely covered our siding and left brown marks all over it. We have shrubs all along our house and the bushes look like they have red berries on them from all the nymphs. I have washed away THOUSANDS of eggs around our door frames, all over our deck, all over our siding and windows. But it has done nothing to help with the problem. I find hundreds laying dead all over our rug in the basement. They are disgusting, taking over, and driving me insane.
We have 2 Hard Maple trees in our yard, and that's all. These trees do produce alot of "helicopters" or seedlings that fall to the ground and in our gutters. We have had a major population of maple seedlings this year also. I need some advice on what to do, to get rid of them. There are thousands all over our sidewalks crushed.
Also, the adult ones are always in pairs walking butt-to-butt. What is this??? SOMEONE HELP PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My lillies, mums, rose of sharon, bushes, clematis, roses, are alll completely covered in hords of them. Does anyone have any helpful advice, please?
TO GET RID OF THOSE PESTY, ANNOYING, NASTY BOXELDER BUGS..........
find an old spray bottle and fill it with about 30% dawn dish soap and about 70% H2O (WATER), spray directly on the bugs and they will sufficate and die in about sixty seconds!!! ~~*this works great.....they used to be all over my pool but i used this and now they are all gone*~~
Or you can just squish them, they are totally harmless to people, but you can choose what you would rather do; chemicals or no chemicals.
I have thousands of these bugs which return to my commercial building every year, I have found that Jungle Jake soap which I purchase from a local store {fleet farm} kills them almost instantly. Much better results than any commercial insecticide has had. I understand that the fatty acids in the soap are what kill them so I'm sure that there are many other brands that would have the same results. Also, we are supposedly on year eight of a ten year cycle for these evil creatures so hopefully we will be done with them soon. To all you that say these bugs dont hurt anything, take a handfull of helicopter seeds, put them in your house , and see if you still feel the same way.
Anyone have any luck cleaning up the yucky black excrement of box elder bugs?? I have a wooden swingset covered in it! I have tried every chemical cleaner in my house, brillo pads, scotch pads, even bug and tar remover for your car. I've gotten some off, but its still nasty.
Thanks!
We've had a serious population of box elder bugs since we moved into our home in suburban Chicago 4 years ago. We should invest in Dawn dishwashing detergent because we use a LOT of it to kill these pests. We're taking a more proactive approach this season by spraying outside regularly and killing as many pe
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