Red Bug
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
June 26, 2011 7:19 pm
The bugs have been crawling around our front walk along a garden filled with vinca ground cover. Some move very quickly, scampering across the concrete bricks, while others gather in clumps. They have been around for more than a week, and I can see that they have about doubled in size.
The start out as a bright red-orange in leg and body color, gradually developing the darker body and legs It looks as if they are developing wings, and I am guessing that the red bumps on the head are eyes. From head to tail, they measure between 1/4” and 1/2”, at least so far.
I’d like to know what they are and whether they are beneficial or harmful to my garden and house.
Signature: lloyd
Boxelder Bug Nymphs
Hi Llyod,
We already responded to three previous requests from today for Boxelder Bug Nymph identifications, and with your letter, we decided we needed to post a letter with photos. Coincidentally, your photos were also the best. Boxelder Bugs will not harm your home or garden, though they do feed upon the seeds of boxelder and other maples. They are more of a nuisance than a problem, especially when they are extremely numerous. They also seek shelter indoors when the weather begins to cool.
Boxelder Bug Nymphs
¶ Posted 27 June 2011 § ‡ ° red bugs
Location: Wills Point – East Texas
May 11, 2011 4:20 pm
These bugs appeared this year. They have made their home in the mulch that surrounds my pool. I wanted know if you could tell me any information about these bugs. I’d like to know if I need to get rid of them to protect my kids and animals or if they were harmless.
Signature: Michelle
Immature Eastern Boxelder Bugs
Dear Michelle,
You have immature Boxelder Bugs and they are perfectly harmless, though they are frequently considered an annoyance because they can appear in prodigious numbers. You can search through our archives where there are over twenty five postings of Boxelder Bugs or you may also check BugGuide for additional information.
¶ Posted 12 May 2011 § ‡ ° Tagged: Top 10 what bug is this?
Location: sunderland, Massachusetts
April 3, 2011 10:55 am
hi there, we just found a swarm of these bugs trying to invade our mother’s house. We’ve only seen them around here recently, but don’t know what they are.
They appear to have nested in a crack in the foundation under her front door. While most are outside have worked their way into the house.
they are just under half inch long. Their body is black. they have a red back, and when the wings are closed, a red stipe is still visible between the folded wings. Although they can fly, most are walking around on the walls, doors, etc. Can you please let us figure out what kind they are?
thank you
Signature: mc
Eastern Boxelder Bug
Dear mc,
You have an aggregation of Eastern Boxelder Bugs which have just emerged from hibernation. When weather begins to cool, Eastern Boxelder Bugs seek shelter and they have adapted to cohabitation with humans. Cracks in foundations are frequently used as entry to homes where the Eastern Boxelder Bugs remain dormant until warm sunny spring days. Then they emerge and sun themselves on southern facing exposures. Eastern Boxelder Bugs are quite benign, however they can become an annoyance if they are plentiful.
¶ Posted 03 April 2011 § ‡ ° Red bug thing
Location: Austin, TX
March 30, 2011 12:56 pm
Can you please help me identify? We live in Austin, TX and these seem to be infesting the yard and wooded areas… clustered in large groups.
Signature: Sarah Warland
Boxelder Bug Nymph
Hi Sarah,
This is an immature Eastern Boxelder Bug nymph, Boisea trivittata. Adults and nymphs can become a nuisance because they often form large aggregations and they often enter homes in the fall where they hibernate until warm weather returns. They will not harm the home, but most folks do not want to share their dwellings with great quantities of insects. They feed upon the seeds of boxelder and other maples, so they also do not have a direct negative impact on the plants themselves. They are benign insects, but again, they are considered a nuisance since they can become quite plentiful. Depending upon your political affiliation, you may or may not find it amusing that they are also commonly called Democrat Bugs.
Cool! Thanks so much… we do seem to be infested but I am glad to know they are not harmful.
Much appreciated!!
¶ Posted 31 March 2011 § ‡ ° bug
Location: Long Island NY
March 5, 2011 11:52 am
These bugs are under our vinyl siding and now that it’s winter, they are getting into the house some how. I just want to make sure they are not wood eaters of some kind. We have had problems with termites in the past.
Signature: Katherine R
Boxelder Bug
Dear Katherine,
This is a Boxelder Bug and it is a benign insect, though since they are in the habit of entering homes to hibernate, often in great numbers, they are considered a nuisance. We find your photo of this intruder on the home security control pad quite amusing.
They are taking over my pretty farm house
Location: Southern Indiana
February 3, 2011 12:30 pm
Could someone please help me ID this menance to my newly refurbished farm house? They are all over the walls and especially the windows on the south walls of my house. They are staying downstairs but ladybugs are upstairs and on the west enclosed porch. I knew about the ladybugs and will have to deal with those but this is bigger and ugly. I hessitate in inviting people over for fear they will think Im a poor mother and wife allowing these to cohabitate with us.
Signature: Disheartened mommy
Boxelder Bug
Dear Disheartened mommy,
No amount of post production sharpening in photoshop is going to help your blurry photo, but there are still enough details for us to identify your Boxelder Bug thanks to your excellent description, though ugly is not a word we would use. Boxelder Bugs are harmless creatures that hibernate over the winter. When your farm house was refurbished, the contractor must not have adequately sealed and weatherstripped. You need to find the point of entry and seal it off. The Ladybugs are probably entering the home the same way.
¶ Posted 04 February 2011 § ‡ ° Box Elder help
December 12, 2010 7:21 pm
First, I want to thank you for this site. I’m using it in a mental health capacity to help with my bug phobia. It’s really helpful to look at the pictures and descriptions and learn about individual insects and creatures. It helps to demystify them and I’m finding myself much less scared of harmless bugs I see now.
Secondly, I live in Wisconsin where it is bitter cold and blowing snow right now. I’ve noticed a box elder bug is taking refuge in my apartment. I know he or she is harmless, so am using this as an opportunity to calm my fears and let this creature exist in my home with me instead of forcing it outside where it will surely freeze to death.
What I’m wondering is if there is any reason I shouldn’t continue to let it hang out in my home, and also how long it might survive in here as opposed to outside. Thanks a lot!
Signature: Rosemary
Hi Rosemary,
Thanks so much for your kind letter. Our readers who are plagued by Boxelder Bug home invasions will be amused with your solitary visitor. Boxelder Bugs often seek shelter indoors in prodigious when cold weather arrives, and they will pass the winter in comfort while waiting for spring to arrive. The Boxelder Bug will not harm your home and there is no reason why you shouldn’t allow it to remain.
Boxelder Bugs
¶ Posted 13 December 2010 § ‡ ° Tagged: fanmail Huge amount of bugs on rose bush.
May 27, 2010
There are hundreds of these appeared on one of my rose bushes. Can you tell me what it is and what I should do ? Is it harmful to my bush ?
Barbara W
Greenville, Texas 75401
Boxelder Bugs
Dear Barbara,
These are Boxelder Bugs, and other than them being numerous and an annoyance at times, they are harmless to your plants. We have never heard of them aggregating on rose bushes, since they feed on the seeds of maple trees. Perhaps they are just being opportunistic.
¶ Posted 29 May 2010 § ‡ ° 
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