I’m wondering if anyone else out there has noticed anything suspicious about the bugs around their house lately. The word “bug” is a scientific term biologists use to combine two species:
The Family of Animals That You Can Kill With A Rolled Up Magazine, and The Family Of Animals That Are Too Quick For That.
I ask because the bugs I’ve seen have definitely become more aggressive in their pursuit to GET INTO MY HOUSE. This makes me nervous. Having just thrown away a Kleenex full of squished box elder bugs, my wife laments because, somehow, she’s missed one.
Then another one.
Then another one.
They just keep appearing.
Sometimes my children react strongly when a box elder bug flies near or lands on them.
Being the man of the house, I feel somewhat responsible to do what I can to help—especially after learning that pointing and saying, “Oh, there’s another one,” or, “Maybe a vacuum would work better,” wasn’t an effective approach.
So I did what many men of the house do when they have a perplexing problem—I googled it.
As you know, in order to google effectively, you must be specific in your query, but not too specific.
For example, typing in the words: “What to tell your wife to do about boxelder bugs when she runs out of Kleenex,” was too specific.
Eventually, however, I was able to coax from the internet the following interesting facts:
About Box Elder Bugs: Fun Facts
- Box elder bugs are common pests throughout the United States.
- Boxelders develop by gradual metamorphosis from egg to nymph to adult.
- Boxelder bugs feed principally by sucking juices from the box elder tree.
- Box elder bugs will enter structures in the fall, seeking winter shelter.
- When box elder bugs build up to large populations and invade a home, they usually do little damage, but they might poop on your curtains.
- A Boxelder bug’s piercing-sucking mouth parts can sometimes puncture skin, causing a slight irritation.
All this leads me to believe that box elder bugs are probably not very intelligent. This gives me some comfort and hope that I might one day outsmart them. I can also tell my children, if a box elder flies near or lands on them, not to panic because it really means no harm. It is simply either:
A) hungry, confused them for a box elder tree and is preparing its piercing mouth parts, or
B) thinks they are a curtain and is ready to poop.
Boxelder Bugs: A population explosion
According to entomologists, box elder populations swing through a 10-year cycle, with years seven through ten being the most active “reproductively speaking.” They did not define “reproductively speaking,” but I’m guessing that what the experts are trying to communicate is that during these years, male box elder bugs become more confident and sophisticated with their pick-up lines.
Anyway, this was year eight. Which means that we can expect male box elders’ success to continue for another two years. Then, for reasons science has yet to discover, males become much less sophisticated in social settings. As the cycle repeats, males revert to an awkward adolescence, totally forgetting that female box elders rank potential mates with confidence and a sense of humor higher than those that can, say . . . burp the alphabet or light their own farts.
Understandably, populations then plummet.
Experts also state that box elder bugs start seeking shelter when temperatures drop below 40 degrees. Responding to instinct, they follow the shadows on a house until this strategy leads them to a window or door-frame. The experts sum up by saying, “Once they get in your house, there’s not much you can do.”
How to get rid of boxelders for good
I don’t know about you, but as the man of the house, a statement like, “ . . .there’s not much you can do,” frustrates me. It does not fit with the Manly Creed: “Failure Is Not An Option” (officially adopted by Manly Men in 1995 after release of the movie “Apollo 13″). A Real Man knows there is always something you can do.
Case in point: I went out and bought more Kleenex.
Note from Chris Wondra:
So now, undoubtably, you’re irritated because you’ve read all the way to the end and still have no clear idea about how to solve your problem. I’d be a bit peaved too. That’s three minutes I’ve douped you out of.
Well, I’m going to try to make this right. What follows is a list of links I’ll update periodically when I find (or you tell me of) different answers to this boxelder bug problem of ours. After all, we’re all in this together.
Here are 10 great tips about how to eliminate box elder bugs.
Here are 10 more ogranic solutions to control boxelder pests (some overlap with the tips above), as well as a short lesson on boxelder bugs. Though I have to warn you, it’s not as amusing to read as my explanation above.
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22 responses so far ↓
1 Popsgirl // Mar 4, 2006 at 12:29 am
I agree–the story about box elderbugs did suck me right in too. I haven’t seen any box elder bugs in California or Alabama for that matter, so I didn’t have a clue what they were. But you peaked my interest. Luckily we have lots of kleenex on hand, just in case! I tell ya, kleenex and duck tape, the universal answers to so many problems!
Lyn
2 b // Mar 3, 2007 at 4:58 pm
You are a miracle in action. I hang on your every word… You, Chris Wondra, are truly an artist!
3 Christopher Wondra // Mar 4, 2007 at 4:46 am
Thanks Lyn,
This was actually a column that I wrote for a local paper. There are a lot of people around here that are getting these bugs crawling all over their houses–inside and out! We have a lot of box elder trees on our property too. So I’m sure that has something to do with it.
Yes! Kleenex and duct tape! I’d add one more home fixit remedy to that–soapy water. Have you ever heard of spraying soapy water on bugs? That seems to be the home remedy answer to a lot of things. The problem is it never really seems to work. I think it’s one of those urban legends started by big soap companies to sell more soap.
Anyway, thanks again for the comment!
Chris
4 anhinga // Mar 4, 2007 at 4:52 pm
I just discoved your site while perusing tags and will definitely be back. Your writing style sucks the reader right in. Your subjects are real and universal. I will be back for more.
5 doodaddy // Mar 8, 2007 at 1:36 am
Biting box elder bugs? Are you sure? I used to keep ‘em in a terrarium for fun and didn’t get even a nibble.
Maybe I taste bad.
Dd.
6 Mary // Mar 14, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Hi Chris,
I just stumbled upon your site while trying to find out about Box Elder bugs. I like your style and info too. Keep up the great writing.
Mary in Onsted, Michigan USA
Thanks Mary! That is always great to hear. Glad you enjoyed your visit.
So . . . you struggle with the Box Elders too? Aren’t they a pain?
Later,
Chris
7 HHE // Mar 14, 2007 at 9:32 pm
So the dark little round spots i find on my plants & window sil are boxelder poop?
8 Widows Quest » Blog Carnival of Positive Thinking // Mar 18, 2007 at 10:48 am
[...] Wondra presents >What To Do About Those Pesky Box Elder Bugs posted at >Chris Wondra . com, saying, [...]
9 Cheryl // Mar 24, 2007 at 2:55 pm
So, how do you get rid of them? My house has been invaded too. My dog eats them, but she just can’t keep up. Any good tips?
Ah, geez Cheryl, I so wish I did. Sorry. That’s the big problem with that whole post above isn’t it? You read the whole thing and are basically back to square one. There are toxic chemicals you can spray, or get sprayed–but please don’t. I’m sure the cure is worse than the disease going that rout.
My advise (and your not going to like it). Keep the vacuum tuned up and suffer through it. We’ve tried just about everything we can think of. Yes, even spraying soapy water. Why do people think soapy water is some big pest deterant anyway?
Thanks for stopping though, I’m sure your saying, “Yeah, and thanks for nothing.”
Chris
10 Laurie // Mar 25, 2007 at 9:11 pm
My solution was drastic. But we had “aggregations” on a tree not 25 feet from our home. for those who have not lived through that particular treat, imagine the 5 or 6 feet surrounding a tree and the tree itself fromt he ground to a good 8-10 feet up - MOVING-, bright red mostly- they had achieved their adult coloring yet.
My darling husband did some research and decided to chop down the whole tree. As a tree hugger I was appalled as a mom of a busy 2 year old, I must say. It worked. If you can find the female box eldar tree that they are breeding and you do not have any other trees of the sort they can “happily” live on, - female silver maple for instance. There is pretty good chance your infestations will DRASTICALLY lessen or perhaps disapear. Last fall, rather than having to avoid the southern side of home, I saw the dozen bugs and wished them a safe winter.
Good to all of you!
Thanks Laurie.
We’ve got Box Elder trees all around us. None as close to the house as what you described, but we do have the trees in great numbers. There is no way I’m going to cut them all down. Plus the trees are actually harder to kill than the bugs. You cut one down and it immediately sprouts 10 branches from the stump.
Thanks for your input though. You’re the first person I’ve heard of that has actually done something and gotten some relief.
Chris
11 calm3 // Mar 26, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Chris and all.
I don’t spray them with soap, I collect them with the method of your choice, and plunk them INTO the soapy water to drown them. They can swim rather well in there, but the soap keeps them from escaping. I used to squish them on newspaper or whatever, but I find it too hard to do after awhile. Somehow, I can manage to let them quietly struggle in the containter until they die, and flush them or dump ‘em outdoors.
Of course, like someone whose dog eats them, well, they keep coming. My step 2, was to vacuum them up from the siding outdoors and drown them, too. It does cut down on the numbers of them that get indoors the next day. I have a 5 gal bucket, and scoop them out after they die to make room for more. I’ll read on, for more permanent options. I prefer to avoid poisons of any sort.
Thanks Calm3,
Yes we don’t do any spraying of poisons around here either (not even weed killer), so pesticides are definately out. Organic and “natural” causes of death and/or dismemberment of bugs is much prefferred at Chris Wondra . com.
So thanks for your suggestions! After hours of getting dive bombed or having them land on me, my keyboard, or my computer screen while I write, I have absolutely no problem watching them drown.
I wish I had a dog that liked bugs. I also liked the suggestion in one of my links at the end of my post that mentioned ducks or something like that. Nothing like natural preditors.
Anyway–thanks again!
Chris
12 Dan // Apr 3, 2007 at 4:26 am
All,
I actually managed to get the soapy water trick to work. I’m using dawn ultra concentrated dish detergent. I diluted 1/4 or 1/8 tsp (guestimate) dish soap in 8 oz of water. I then put a drop or two on a box elder bug I had wandering around my basement. I just used my finger and got him wet. Within 15 or 20 seconds he had stopped moving and didn’t respond to any poking or prodding. I haven’t tried spraying it because I usually only have a few bugs wandering around, so I don’t know how well it works in that scenario.
Dan
Thanks Dan,
What kind of dish soap did you use? Maybe that has something to do with it.
Chris
13 YellowTang // Apr 9, 2007 at 9:13 pm
I can’t really offer any help for those of you suffering from boxelder misery. We have two large trees about 15 feet from our house, and, as with Laurie’s “pets,” they tend to form a carpet/sheet covering our grass and the west side of our house….can’t walk outside without getting swarmed by thousands of the little jerks. And happily, this is where our dogs are let outside, so they act like four-legged transports to deliver the boxelders into our house. Like I said, I can’t offer any extermination help, but our little infestation has been a boon for my OCD. Nothing relieves stress like individually squishing hundreds of smug, crunchy bugs with a shoe. However, the police have marked my house as “one of interest” after seeing me outside on countless nights after work with a flashlight, hunting beetles. Good luck and continued sanity to you, because mine has left me.
Yellow Tang (I love that name btw),
That’s funny. Sounds like the Box Elder Bugs picked the wrong house to invade with you on the prowl!
Thanks for the visit–and taking the time to share.
Chris
14 Nick // Apr 14, 2007 at 11:39 pm
Chris,
I seem to have the same “Man” problem that you and some of the other readers have. Today I was working in the garage (which has doors facing West) when I got some grease on my fairly good jeans. Knowing that my wife would be upset because I didn’t change into my work cloths I grabed a can of starting fluid, steped outside and proceeded to spray the grease spot out. Then I noticed a few Box Elder bugs hanging out around the door. Starting fluid is a little drastic but the can was almost empty so I sprayed it into the cracks and watched the buggers crawl out and fall to the ground. As I stood there wondering how to get rid of these things for good I decided to come in and “Google”. Box Elder bugs are good for and I hit enter. This brought me to a bunch of sites and eventually to yours. After reading your page and the comments that others have left I feel inclined to admit that we might be defeated in this quest to rid ourselves of these little buggers. However, I will tell you that about two weeks ago I went out of the garage door and both overhead doors and the garage door had tons of these buggers all around them. Taking the advice of a friend, I took my wifes spray bottle that she does ironing with (yes, I got in trouble for this too) and squirted a bunch of Dawn Original scent Non-Ultra into the bottle, filled it half way up with water and went out to see if it would work. It was awesome watching them fall to the ground DEAD. Went back in and refilled the bottle and sprayed the other doors. I really haven’t seen much of them until today, but today it hit me wrong and I was wandering if there was something out there that would have a residual effect without getting crazy with poisons. I found one web site that suggests Tempo WP and Delta Dust. Do you know anything about these two products? Good luck at finding a solution for our problem.
Nick
15 cynthia // Apr 24, 2007 at 12:46 am
i have box elder bugs too . i just bought a house and to many boxelder trees they are huge , so i need to know if there are female and male boxelder trees . because these one bushes closer to the ground are swarming with the little babies and all over the ground . please help me . cynthia
16 mc2 & b=skillet // Nov 16, 2007 at 11:51 am
me and b-skillet have the same study hall together and we pretty much have the same study hall teacher since were in the same study hall together so therefore we have the same teacher in the same study hall. but thats Mr. Prazak and he has alot of those bugs in his room and b-skillet kills them all, one of those bugs name is Burt. yeah its pretty neat.
okay well i probably should go be ninja sweet and check more of your kick butt website out.
okie dokie artichokie.
mc2 and b-skillet.
17 undeterred1 // Mar 8, 2008 at 8:03 pm
I just found a new product that kills those pesky box elder bugs. Its called Box Elder B-Gone. It is a natural bio-insecticide from what i have read and it works. I used it on a few bugs i found in my house. I bought the bottle at the minneapolis home and garden show. They say there is no harmful chemicals in it and can be sprayed on anything inside and out without smelling or staining. From the research i have done they are right.
18 joe miller // Mar 19, 2008 at 10:48 am
Chris and undeterred,
I also bought a bottle of Box Elder B-GONE off of their website and was alittle skeptical at first until I sprayed acouple of bugs in my basement and with a good squirt in about 45 seconds they were dead, I was thrilled! I have not tested it on the staining side but the spot I did spray had no residue. I am really wanting to try their garden hose spray bottle, they say you just hook it up to the garden hose and then spray the bugs when they are on my house and they will drop dead. And by what I seen so far I am impressed, this product will make it safe and easy to kill the bugs.
Just wanted to let you both know I am a believer!
Thanks,
Joe Miller
Woodbury, MN
19 Amanda // Apr 15, 2008 at 6:46 pm
So, not only did you have me hanging on your story of the wonderous and yet stupid bug, you had me cracking up a little too. However, I just want to know how to get them out of my house. I have a slight phobia of bug that can fly so I don’t even have the cuhonas to squish them. From time to time they land of my daughter and she still looks at me strange when I start frantically hitting and swiping at her back. I can’t find the solution that I am looking for. I want them out of my house. Is there something that I can spray around the perimeter of my house to just ward them off completely. HELP!!!!!!!!
Amanda R
20 Liz // Apr 26, 2008 at 6:04 pm
I spent a month vacuuming up hundreds of Box Elder bugs a day and there were still hundreds more the following day. I followed their pattern for a month and found three nest sites where I knew they lived in cracks where I couldn’t get to them. I vacuumed every outside place I could get to but the “under the cracks places” were still a problem. I decided to try heavy duty Ant Traps (Combat-to be specific) and to my astonishment….in two days, they were ALL GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!
21 larry // May 23, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Dear Wonderful Writer,
i love the fart noise!! also, i have millions of boxelders IN BETWEEN MY SCREEN AND WINDOW!! I AM YOUNG AND I AM FRIGHTENED!! THEY ARE TRAPPED! AND SO AM I! WHAT SHOULD I DO!!?
22 Morynn // Jul 23, 2009 at 6:24 pm
How we got rid of boxelders is that we took the JOY dish washing soap ( has to be lemon scented) and put it in a spray bottle filled the rest up with water and went outside and around the house and sprayed. It kills them in 1-10 seconds when sprayed.
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