5 Things to Know and Do About Box-Elder Bugs

Do you have a box-elder bug invasion in your home? Box-elder bugs are relatively harmless, but they often enter California homes in large numbers starting each autumn. Here are five things you should know and do about box-elder bugs.

1. Know Your Invasive Bug

People often confuse box-elder bugs with other beetles and bugs that enter homes. You can tell the box-elder bug apart from cockroaches, squash bugs, and other bugs by size and color.

Box-elder bugs grow to a length of 1/2 inch at adulthood. Their bodies are black in color with three distinct red lines on the thorax and a few tiny red lines on their wings. The nymphs are bright red when young and develop brownish-red bodies when half their adult size.

The bordered plant bug has a similar oblong shape as the box elder bug but features a yellow border around the body. Red-shouldered bugs only have red lines near their heads.

Box-elder bugs leave stains on light-colored drapery and walls. The bugs aren’t dangerous, but do bite humans on rare occasions.

2. Understand the Bug’s Fall Habits

Box-elder bugs live on and eat box-elder trees, maples, and fruit trees throughout the summer. As the weather turns cool in autumn, the box-elder bugs leave their feeding areas to find warm, protected places to spend the winter months.

Box-elder bugs are attracted to your property when your yard offers the following sheltered spots:

• Rock walls
• Decking and steps
• Sidewalks
• Stacked wood
• Leaf litter and forest debris

Box-elder bugs especially like sheltered areas that have southern or western exposures. The bugs will hide behind home siding and will enter homes to congregate under furniture or inside closets.

3. Clean Up the Yard

Box-elder bugs mostly eat box-elder and maple tree seeds that drop in the spring. Box-elder bugs will eat the seeds in any season. If you’re vigilant about raking and disposing of the seeds each spring, you can reduce the number of box-elder bugs that flock to your property.

In autumn, reduce your yard’s attractiveness to all types of bugs by cleaning up hiding spots in your lawn and garden. Rake up leaves and pick up fallen brush from under trees. Cover your stacked firewood with plastic to keep box-elder bugs from gathering in the woodpile.

4. Protect the House

Protect your home from a box-elder bug invasion by maintaining a 6- to 10-foot-wide mowed and raked border around your home’s foundation. Box-elder bugs like to move under cover to avoid their natural predators, so they stay away from bare areas like mowed borders.

Seal up all cracks in your home’s foundation. Use caulk or weather stripping to remove gaps around window frames and doorframes. If you have open vents in your foundation, attic, or soffit, place fine mesh over the vents to deny entry to the box-elder bugs.

5. Manage the Invasion

When you see box-elder bugs on trees or around your yard, spray them with a water hose to knock the insects off branches and other surfaces. The bugs can drown in water, so you don’t need pesticides to kill small numbers of box-elder bugs.

Inside the home, vacuum the box-elder bugs that invade your space. However, don’t swat or smash the bugs, as they can release an offensive smell when they’re crushed. Close up the vacuum bag immediately and dispose of it by burning it or placing the bag in the trash bin.

Your pest control professional has several methods to help control box-elder bugs. Simple soap sprays are useful for mild infestations, while you might need stronger insecticides for unmanageable box elder populations. Your pest control professional can apply box-elder treatments approved for indoor and outdoor use.

If box-elder bugs have invaded your space, contact Craig & Sons Termite & Pest Control, Inc., today. We offer safe, reliable insect control for residents throughout the Redlands and Riverside, California, region.