Just made this meme to express my frustration at Boxelder bugs. No matter how many times I carry them out they find a way back in my house in Spring and Fall.
Note because I guess some folks need it: I don't kill them, I pick them up and put them back outside!
They're my friends
They are friendly little bugs.
That brings me back to my childhood. We had lots of these in the backyard when I was a kid, but I haven't seen one for decades now.
Same, but school playground. Do they turn into the jumpy/flying guys of the same color? I suppose I can look that up since I now know the name of them thanks to this post... lol.
Looks like no, the jumpy bois at least aren't in the pics when you search boxelder bugs. So still I have that mystery! They literally look like the boxelder's next evolution, they get sleek and shaped like a B-2 Stealth Bomber, the colorway/shader is "boxelder" apparently, and they can jump like a son of a bitch, and fly short distances kind of like a chicken.
Could it be a kissing bug? I'd never heard of them before, but they were mentioned in this thread and do look a lot like boxelders!
Naw, definitely not. They're almost leaf bug shaped but flatter, less long than a boxelder ('bout leaf bug length), black, and a couple red stripes.
Kissing bugs like that one above are longer like the boxelders and still the wrong non-B-2-Bomber shape, too many red stripes in the wrong pattern, and I'm still unclear on their propensity to jump into a short flight like a chicken with pneumatic legs. Still the exact right colors though!
tell me your house is badly insulated without telling me your house is badly insulated
Yeah it's over 100 years old and has been through countless owners and tenants lol
Seems like this is your own fault then
This is me but with stink bugs.
At least box elders are distinct looking. I've been getting elm bugs after moving to a different state and from afar they look like cockroaches. Eughgggghhhhh
Hot take: These guys never bothered me. I know some people are strongly bothered and annoyed by Boxelder bugs but they don't annoy me.
Same here. I think they're kinda cute tbh. They are just a very mild inconvenience in the house just because I gotta go find a piece of paper for it to crawl on and put it outside, lol.
Remind me what the bug is that carries the “makes your heart fall apart slowly” disease that was popular last year.
I think I kept mistaking these for those.
Triatoma infestans is the primary vector for Chagas’ disease, but it can be transmitted by other triatomines. Fun fact, they shit on your face and the infection comes from you rubbing their infected shit into the fresh open wound. It’s not from the bite itself. Thanks to climate change they’re migrating northward. Sleep tight!
Kissing bugs cause chagas, and they do look very similar
if you're in south american countries. they are similar looking to assassin bugs which are predators instead of bloodsuckers.
I thought they were all kissing bugs. How do you tell them apart.
The biggest tell is the missing sucker tube. Though boxelder bugs are fairly vibrant in color, and generally are numerous/you know about them majority of your life.
Around me they've become far less common due to climate change sadly. Love the little guys, even if they used to easily overwhelm any house in the woods.
Soapy water kills them quickly if you need to exterminate them. Just don't squish them.
There are so many it's impossible to kill them all that way. My house becomes absolutely caked in them in the spring and fall, and some of them even come into the house.
You can get an attachment for your garden hose that would let you spray soapy water over a large area very quickly.
Huh, nice.
They're related to stinkbugs right? Smell bad when squished? I've never intentionally squished one.
My old house got tons of box elders and asian beetles. The side with the most sun would be absolutely caked on sunny fall and spring days. When they got inside, I'd use the vacuum with long extension hoses to suck them up. They have a smell but I would call it stinky -- just kind of old and musty.
Supposedly the release pheromones when squished, which then attracts more of them. Not sure if they are related to stinkbugs!
Last summer we had thousands on the south facing wall of our house. Will be interesting to see what happens this year.
There's a Boxelder tree in the neighbors yard and our garage, table and tarps get absolutely covered in them every summer and fall. They're cute lil bugs but not in those numbers, lol!
Leave them alone already.
I'd prefer let them back outside rather than see them getting squished or drown themselves in the washing machine or be eaten by the cats 🤗
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