What Is a Boxelder Bug? What Feeds on boxelder Bugs?
The primary host of the boxelder bug is the Boxelder tree. Boxelder bugs come in big groups. These small and flat bugs have a repulsive odour and flavour to them, making them a less than ideal meal for birds and insects. However, orange, and black markings on their backs helps them camouflage when they are eggs, protecting them against predators. Boxelder bug predators include rodents like rats, mice, and chipmunks. When these bugs are young, they can be mistaken for arthropods (insects and spiders with a waxy layer on their cuticle or hard exoskeleton) like ticks or mites.
What Do Boxelder Bugs Eat?
These are not a grubbing pest, but more of an annoyance of a pest. Boxelder bugs won’t be found in your flower or vegetable garden, but there are some instances where they can become a munching nuisance, like eating ripening peaches from trees. At that point, when they do find something delicious to eat, you’ll see numerous boxelder bugs, and in those large quantities, you can count on damage occurring. These bugs are usually eating the hanging seed pods of maple trees in spring and early summer. A common type of maple tree these bugs will feed on includes female boxelder trees (Acer negundo), which they are named after, and ash trees.
Where Boxelder Bugs Can be Found Outside and Inside Your Property
In the summer and spring these bugs begin to mate and lay eggs on boxelder trees. Boxelder trees can be found in the prairies including Eastern Alberta, central Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and in southern Ontario. Boxelder bugs are attracted to trees in the maple family. In Southern Ontario we can find many boxelder bugs in North York and Etobicoke.
During the winter these bugs enjoy warmth, and will look to your home for a cozy place to play house and set up shop. You may see them in large gatherings on the south or sunniest side of your home or apartment when Autumn comes around. When the Fall season rolls around, boxelder bugs are going to be getting closer and closer to entering through cracks and crevices in your home.
How to Prevent Boxelder Bugs?
You can always call Icon Pest to help do an expert job at removing boxelder bugs from your property, but there are some steps you can take to prevent boxelder bugs and a few home remedies you can do to remove them from your property.
Here Are Some Considerations You Can Implement to Prevent and Eliminate Boxelder Bugs:
- Ensure door thresholds like door draft stoppers are in good condition to block these bugs from permeating under door gaps
- Have a look around your home, and seal up cracks and crevices around the foundation
- Once inside, vacuuming can be a great and simple way to remove boxelder bugs from your home. This is a better alternative to smashing these bugs as they will stain your household fabrics like carpets and upholstery. Once vacuumed, get rid of the vacuum bag, put it in another bag which you can place in your freeze. This will freeze the bugs and kill them. Then you can empty the bag and reuse it.
- You can use a hose sprayer with liquid dishwashing soap and 4-8 litres of water, and spray this around your house. This will damage the boxelder bug exoskeleton, causing them to dry out and die. Be sure to hit the boxelder bugs with the soapy water, as there is no residual effect. If you don’t get them directly with the water mix, they will live. If you have huge congregations then you may need to spray several times when they’re most active to get them all with the soap water.
- Although not practical or the best choice for many, and it may be expensive, a permanent solution to getting rid of boxelder bugs is the removal of female boxelder trees. You can replace them with another species of trees or with male boxelder trees
Hire Icon Pest Today
If boxelder bugs are becoming a nuisance and annoyance in your home, workplace, business, or on your property, and the above recommendations have not done the job, your next step is to get professional assistance in the removal and prevention process. Icon Pest has over two decades of pest removal experience. For the last 25 years our experts have provided full-service pest control and wildlife removal services.
With a 100% warranty policy and as the recipient of several awards, we have experience you can trust, so you won’t need to shop around for professionals who stand by their word. Icon Pest offers a 100% warranty policy. If you are a first-time client, we will offer you 10% off our boxelder removal service in Ontario. You can give our team a call at (647) 325-9060.
Choose Icon Pest Today
Want solutions to your ant problem? Call (647) 325 9060 or email info@iconpest.ca. Follow us on Instagram. We offer first-time customers a 10% discount on all services.
Icon Pest offers a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee. We work hard, so your satisfaction is guaranteed. With our 25 years of experience in pest control and wildlife removal, we are your best option for ant removal in Vaughan.
