Red Shoulder Bugs: Aggregation of alarming proportions

bugman

December 10th, 2009 at 8:56 am

Categories

red bugs taking over my yard
December 8, 2009
I have red and black bugs that seem to mulitply by the day. I tried poison but it did not work. Maybe it was the wrong poison but don’t know what to get because I don’t know what the bug is. Please help, they reproduce faster than rabbits!
Afton
Orlando Florida

red shoulder nymphs afton 300x225 Red Shoulder Bugs: Aggregation of alarming proportions

Red Shoulder Bug Aggregation

Hi Afton,
You have an aggregation of immature Red Shoulder Bugs, Jadera haematoloma, and according to BugGuide, they can emerge in alarmingly large swarms. Adults have black wings that cover the red abdomens that are visible in the nymphs. They are also called Goldenrain Tree Bugs because they feed on the seeds of the goldenrain tree. Another common host plant in Florida is the balloonvine. BugGuide also indicates that the peak population period in Florida is May. BugGuide indicates: “Widespread southern species, in same family as the Boxelder Bug. Often associated with the introduced Goldenrain Tree (Koelreuteria paniculata; family Sapindaceae) but is apparently a native insect. …. The bug is probably more widespread than formerly, following the distribution of the cultivated tree.” Red Shoulder Bugs may become a nuisance because of their numbers, but they are benign insects.

Red Shoulder Bugs

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Comments 4

GKBOWOOD wrote:
AHAA! I have these appear each year on my prickly pear cactus here in central Texas. I usually hose them off with water. I’m glad they are not harmful to me, but I wonder about the cactus.
Posted 29 Dec 2009 at 12:36 am ¶
tmcc wrote:
I just got these bugs two weeks ago and they showed up in the thousands from the neighbors yard. After 4 different insecticides we found dish detergent does work the best, but not after it dries. We put a bar of reg soap in the hose sprayer along with the dish detergent and this actually seemed to work better. I leave the bar in there and just add more dish soap when needed and they really aren’t but a few crawling around now and none on my house.
Posted 06 May 2010 at 7:22 am ¶
cdc53 wrote:
best instant kill is Palmolive dish detergent in a pump sprayer or hose end sprayer
Posted 12 Nov 2011 at 12:41 pm ¶
bugman wrote:
Though they are not harmful, we are sure some of our readers find Red Shoulder Bugs to be a nuisance when they get plentiful. Though we do not endorse extermination of benign species, we will post your comment.
Posted 12 Nov 2011 at 2:49 pm ¶

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