What insect is this

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MagnusTheBrewer

MagnusTheBrewer

IN MEMORIAM
Jun 19, 2004
24,122
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That would be a box elder bug. They were responsible for the loss of a great many box elders around the country although only the female tree attracts them.
 
T

TheSiege

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2004
3,918
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i f-cking hate them
weird tho, i have never seen the red ones, mine were mainly black
 
9

91TTZ

Lifer
Jan 31, 2005
14,374
1
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Looks like a box elder bug. They like to come out in winter and sunbathe on the side of houses.



PS- Box elders dislike the metric system and prefer to be measured using standard units.
 
DefDC

DefDC

Golden Member
Aug 28, 2003
1,858
1
81
Yep. Box Elders.... They like sunning on my patio too! Looks nasty when they swarm tho....
 
C

cbuchach

Golden Member
Nov 5, 2000
1,164
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81
Originally posted by: TheSiege
i f-cking hate them
weird tho, i have never seen the red ones, mine were mainly black
Click to expand...

I agree; my apartment in Iowa City was absolutely infested with those from October to April. I woke up one night with one crawling on my face. They however don't carry any disease and don't bite.
 
C

cbuchach

Golden Member
Nov 5, 2000
1,164
1
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And despite their name, they can be found on other trees besides Box Elder trees. So don't think that by just cutting them down you will rid yourselves of the bugs.
 
meltdown75

meltdown75

Lifer
Nov 17, 2004
37,548
7
81
Originally posted by: alien42
where did you take the pic?
i took this pic in kenya and they look similar.
Click to expand...
:music: you and me baby ain't nothin but insects so let's do it like they do on the..

damn :(
 
A

alien42

Lifer
Nov 28, 2004
12,868
3,298
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Originally posted by: meltdown75
Originally posted by: alien42
where did you take the pic?
i took this pic in kenya and they look similar.
Click to expand...
:music: you and me baby ain't nothin but insects so let's do it like they do on the..

damn :(
Click to expand...
they were stuck like dogs :D
 
DefDC

DefDC

Golden Member
Aug 28, 2003
1,858
1
81
Since they appear to be in the stink bug family, I've always been careful around them, just in case! :)
 
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neit

Senior member
Dec 6, 2001
353
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Wow, lots of interest in the pics, sorry for leaving the computer after i posted, but I had things to do :)

The pictures were from a suburb of St. Louis, MO. They have 2 colonies (both pictured) that I had found next to concrete, and as far as I'm aware the only tree nearby was a white pine that had to come down after an ice storm. I couldn't figure out the right fraction of an inch off the top of my head so just guessed the cm range :p Anyways, thanks all for the info, this will be helpful in my further research.

Any sites that can help me identify other critters? I was having a tough time finding a way to describe the insects so a search engine could give me solid results.
 
Z

zinkpig

Senior member
May 13, 2001
670
0
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yeah ..thats a box elder bug ..they are totally harmless except that they crawl every where. We used to get tonnes of them every summer in salt lake city.
 
drifter106

drifter106

Golden Member
Mar 14, 2004
1,261
57
91
Would have to agree...have a box elder in my back yard and during the summer they are all over the place. Sevin (insecticide) helps but doesn't knock them dead like roundup does to green plants. Soap and water does a pretty good job. Gotta have a feces load of them though to kill your trees. Been in this house for 5 years and the box elder tree by our patio is still there. The tree took a small hit last year but I blame that on drought. They like to crawl on the side of your house if its close. Try this: Box Elder Bug


You must live further south than me or my population took a hit....just a coincidence I went out today shooting some macro and was looking for them around the patio. They aren't there yet. I live in Kansas.
 
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