| I found it rather surprising to find a box elder bug nectaring on flowers, but here it is. This particular bug is feasting on frost aster , a very common small white wildflower here in the Midwest. These pictures were taken the first week of October, just about the time Box Elders begin gathering to look for overwintering sites, so I assume she was stocking up energy stores for winter. I've not seen an account of this insect feeding on anything but the Box Elder Tree, Acer negundo, nor have I seen it mentioned in a pollination role, but this specimen is fairly well dusted with pollen. |
This adult female boxelder bug is using her proboscis to extract necater from an aster wildflower. She uses the sugars contained in nectar to fuel her egg-laying apparatus. Adult female box elder bugs lay eggs on the host trees in the springtime, and the nymphs emerge within a few days. The nymphs are smaller, wingless versions and show more red than adults. These nymphs develop through several instars into adults during the summer, then mate and lay eggs which hatch into the nymphs of the second generation. In the summer, box elder bugs normally feed on the leaves, flowers, and seed pods of the box elder or silver maple. The bugs cause little damage to trees. Box elder bugs also feed on the nectar of various wildflowers, as is evidenced by the photo documentary here. Nymphs complete their growth near the end of August and early September, then begin migrating to their overwintering sites. The adult bugs are attracted to warm, sunny walls of buildings after the weather has begun to cool. They can often be found in congregations of thousands of bugs on a single building, with more flying in all day as they seek a place to spend the winter. The bugs are very adept at finding cracks and crevices as entrance to buildings.
An obvious way to avoid infestations by this pest in residential properties is to get rid of near-by female boxelder trees. If this species is to be planted as an ornamental or shade tree, male trees should be purchased from the nursery. They are propagated by cuttings from staminate trees. Chemical control can best be obtained by spraying the nymphs on the host trees before the adults have had a chance to migrate. Power spray equipment is usually required and a professional should be hired to do the job safely.
Once Box elder bugs have moved into the cavities of a home
in the fall, there is nothing that can be done to eliminate
them, save vacuuming up the little buggers that get into
your living space. Removing all boxelder trees in an area
will prevent breeding. Caulking windows and doors, and
repairing window and door screens will help prevent bugs
from entering a home. If you decide you would like to spray
for control, one home remedy is to use a 3-4% mix of water
and soap (by volume) that can be sprayed directly on the
insects. Remember however that soaps only kill on contact.
In extreme cases have a pest control professional apply a
residual insecticide to exterior walls in the fall where the
bugs are congregating - this will tend to discourage them
from landing.
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One most often hears of this (actually quite beautiful, in my humble opinion) bug as an insect pest. During the autumn, large numbers of them leave their summer homes in the trees and congregate on the sunny walls of buildings, crawling into cracks around windows, doors, etc. I used to have them on my house by the thousands, and quite a few of them found their way indoors where I would have to leave the vacuum cleaner handy for weeks. The trouble with vacuuming the bugs is, pretty soon your vacuum starts to stink! Anyway, not that I advocate mass murder, here is an easy and cheap method for "discouraging" them using your house as their winter palace:
Mix a little liquid dish soap - any brand will do - with water. Just a small amount of soap is needed. Put this mixture in a spray bottle ( a good one with a stream setting will help you reach bugs even on the second story) and just spray the little buggers where they sit (outdoors, of course, you nut). Just enough to get them wet - and they die. Boom. Kaput. Adios. Bye bye box elder bugs.
Boxelder bugs most often live and feed on the tree species Acer
negundo.
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