Subject: Unidentified beetle
Location: San Diego
October 11, 2013 3:03 pm
can you tell me what this beetle is? What it eats and what will kill it? It seems to have infested my yard; especially around my rose bushes. It doesn’t appear to be eating any leaves, but maybe it’s eating the roots. Where the beetles are located, the entire rose bed is dying. The adult is about 1/2 long. The baby is about 1/8 long and is reddish in color. The adult has red eyes, dark gray wings and a red body.
Signature: Perry
Hi Perry,
These are mating Red Shouldered Bugs, Jadera haematoloma, and they are benign creatures, though they can be a nuisance when they are plentiful since they form aggregations and they sometimes enter homes when the weather cools down.
Thank you, Daniel. I appreciate the response. I’ll stop trying to eradicate them since they are harmless to my roses. They’re probably dying for some other neglect on my part.
Perry