#BOXELDER BUGS HOW TO#

If there’s any tree that’s guaranteed to have boxelder bugs, it’s a maple tree. Most of the time, they’ll exclusively feed on female maple trees. They cause minimal damage when eating plants and unnoticeable damage when eating trees. They do eat trees, leaves, twigs, and other plant-based matter, but they rarely will damage it enough to kill it. This helps ensure progeny and survival of their species. It’s the same reason as to why fish travel in schools or birds travel in flocks. Large numbers also offer better protection against predators, because they’ll be scared away or only be able to eat a small portion of the colony while the rest escapes and hides. Grouping is a survival technique that increases reproductive success, which is probably the most important hardwired goal of any organism on the planet. They provide each other with security and ease of reproduction, so they often are found in large colonies. Why are boxelders always found in groups?īoxelders use a survival mechanism where they clump together in order to survive. Regardless, they can both be eliminated the same way and all these methods apply to both.

The main difference is that the western boxelder doesn’t have the orange wing veins that the common boxelder does. Common boxelder bug (Boisea trivittata).Western boxelder bug (Boisea rubrolineata).There are two main types of box elders you’ll find domesticated in Northern America: You can find more info about them on Wikipedia. So they’ll eat up any live plants that are healthy.

They have strong teeth and beaks which they use to drain nourishing nutrients from plants, twigs, and seeds. They’re not typically known to eat indoor plants, but rather eat plants with sap. This doesn’t include inside your house unless you happen to have a lot of indoor plants. They also don’t reproduce within your house because the female boxelders require plants such as trees, shrubs, leaves, and other shrubby areas. They go through a metamorphosis from egg to nymph to adult, so they do lay eggs. They’re mostly black in color with flat backs with orange lines that outline features. They’re found during the warmer seasons as they hibernate during the winter in a warm, dry area during the cold. The first thing we need to do is make sure you’re actually dealing with a boxelder bug problem in your house in the first place- what good is trying to get rid of the wrong pest? Knowledge is power.īoxelder bugs are large, 0.5’’ bugs with three red stripes and vertical lines on their sides and also on their wing edges.

Did you get rid of your boxelder bug problem?īoxelder bugs are kind of gross-looking, but they’re easy to get rid of with some patience! (Jesse Keith Huffman via Wikimedia).Do boxelder bugs go away by themselves?.Getting rid of boxelder bugs permanently.Places where boxelders can get into your home.

#BOXELDER BUGS HOW TO#

How to get rid of boxelder bugs naturally.

How to get rid of boxelder bugs in the house?.

Are boxelder bugs harmful or poisonous to humans?.

Why are boxelders always found in groups?.

Types of boxelder bugs in North America.

Boxelder bugs