Subject: Borer beetle?
Geographic location of the bug: Seattle, WA
Date: 01/19/2019
Time: 07:35 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Hi,
I’ve never seen this type of beetle before (I’ve been organic gardening for 10 yrs). It looks like some sort of borer beetle, but I’m having trouble identifying it. Could you help?
Thank you!!
How you want your letter signed: Rebecca
Dear Rebecca,
This is not a Borer Beetle. It is a True Bug, more specifically, a Western Conifer Seed Bug, Leptoglossus occidentalis, a species native to Seattle and other portions of the Pacific Northwest, though very few reports of this species actually come to us from your part of the country because beginning in the 1960s, the range of the Western Conifer Seed Bug was greatly expanded. The species is now found over much of North America and beginning in the early 2000s, it was reported from Europe where it is considered an invasive exotic species. Western Conifer Seed Bugs often enter homes to hibernate.