Grammadot,
We have so many boxelder bugs on our buildings in the fall I just figured it had to be. Do you know that it is a stink bug? or were you needing an id?
Do you have a closeup of this critter?
Thanks
Oh no Moni! by: Grammadot
Thanks for the input Moni. They aren't boxelder bugs. They are all brown, hard shelled shieldbug look alikes and I would not have the heart to smother them. However, I admit the vacuum is handy during tomato canning season!
Invasion of the third degree! by: Anonymous
i was there as one of the guests falling all over each other trying to get out of the kitchen...little buggers...its true they have invaded ...they love my curtains!
Boxelder Bugs by: Moni
If you have bugs on the house like that and you call them 'stink' bugs, I assume they are boxelder bugs. Are they slender, soft bodied, black with red markings?
The other "bug" that accumulates on houses like that are the Asian lady beetles. They are round, hard shelled, and red with black spots. They do leave a smell on your hands when you touch them.
Both insects come into homes in the fall in IA, evidently PA, and most of the Midwest. They are a nuisance but do not do any indoor damage. The lady beetles feed on aphids, primarily in soybean fields in the summer. Boxelder bugs feed on, you guessed it, boxelder trees. These bugs do not stink when you touch them like the traditional stink bug.
Best way to get rid of them, if that is your intent, is to use a small shop vac and vacuum them up inside and outside(on a warm fall day). Dump the contents into a bag, seal it and throw away!
If you send in a close up of the insect, I can tell you which it is.
Thanks.
Stinky! by: Anonymous
i was there! ...
they give me the willies every time i see one ...
and THAT one stunk to high heaven!
