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By: Rebecca Hoffman*, UW-Entomology and Phil Pellitteri, UW Insect
Diagnostic Lab
Boxelder bugs, a true bug from the insect family Rhopalidae, are commonly found both outside and inside homes during the fall through early spring. Boxelder bugs are about 3⁄4 of an inch long, and black in color with three red lines on the thorax and red lines on the wing margins. During the summer, they feed on leaves, flowers, and seedpods of boxelders and silver maples, where they do minor damage to the trees.
Although completely harmless to humans, these bugs can be nuisance and occasionally their waste can stain.
Life cycle: Adult boxelder bugs lay eggs on trees in the spring. Nymphs emerge in 11 to 14 days and begin feeding on trees. Nymphs resemble adults, but are smaller and have more red on their bodies. Nymphs develop into adults during the summer, and lay eggs of a second generation of boxelder bugs that is active in August and September. Boxelder bugs become a nuisance when second generation bugs congregate on the outsides of homes on sunny days in September and October. Boxelder bugs then move indoors to find a protected place to overwinter. They remain in attics and wall voids until the spring when the bugs move back outdoors. Although boxelder bugs do not breed indoors, some may be active on sunny days in the winter. Populations of boxelder bugs are highest after dry spells. Wet weather promotes a fungal disease that is important for natural population control.
Brent Towle, Master Technician and owner of Spectrum Pest Control has developed an exclusive protocol for controlling Box Elder Bugs all Summer and Winter long. Timing is everything!
“Prevention is the name of the game”
We start by identifying the severity of the current problem and establish a plan of attack. If our first visit is in the spring, we need to suppress the interior problem while at the same time treating the exterior to prevent those exiting structure to sun themselves and then reenter in evening. The more we control in the spring, the more we keep from breeding and having to do battle with in the late summer early fall. A preventive service needs to be done before the temps drop in the fall. Most locations require a treatment between last week of August to middle of September.
Due to this years late spring and wet summer, they will be showing up late. September Late October service will work well.
Our products will protect structure for 120 days!
Lady Beetles, Wasp, Spiders, Cluster Flies and Ants will also be controlled with this service combination.
Box Elder Bugs are more active in the Pleasant Prairie, Bristol, Trevor, Wilmot, Paddock Lake, Salem, Somers, and Twin Lakes than they will be in the city of Kenosha or Racine. This is dues to the higher density of box elder trees in outlying communities.
Diagnostic Lab
Boxelder bugs, a true bug from the insect family Rhopalidae, are commonly found both outside and inside homes during the fall through early spring. Boxelder bugs are about 3⁄4 of an inch long, and black in color with three red lines on the thorax and red lines on the wing margins. During the summer, they feed on leaves, flowers, and seedpods of boxelders and silver maples, where they do minor damage to the trees.
Although completely harmless to humans, these bugs can be nuisance and occasionally their waste can stain.
Life cycle: Adult boxelder bugs lay eggs on trees in the spring. Nymphs emerge in 11 to 14 days and begin feeding on trees. Nymphs resemble adults, but are smaller and have more red on their bodies. Nymphs develop into adults during the summer, and lay eggs of a second generation of boxelder bugs that is active in August and September. Boxelder bugs become a nuisance when second generation bugs congregate on the outsides of homes on sunny days in September and October. Boxelder bugs then move indoors to find a protected place to overwinter. They remain in attics and wall voids until the spring when the bugs move back outdoors. Although boxelder bugs do not breed indoors, some may be active on sunny days in the winter. Populations of boxelder bugs are highest after dry spells. Wet weather promotes a fungal disease that is important for natural population control.
Brent Towle, Master Technician and owner of Spectrum Pest Control has developed an exclusive protocol for controlling Box Elder Bugs all Summer and Winter long. Timing is everything!
“Prevention is the name of the game”
We start by identifying the severity of the current problem and establish a plan of attack. If our first visit is in the spring, we need to suppress the interior problem while at the same time treating the exterior to prevent those exiting structure to sun themselves and then reenter in evening. The more we control in the spring, the more we keep from breeding and having to do battle with in the late summer early fall. A preventive service needs to be done before the temps drop in the fall. Most locations require a treatment between last week of August to middle of September.
Due to this years late spring and wet summer, they will be showing up late. September Late October service will work well.
Our products will protect structure for 120 days!
Lady Beetles, Wasp, Spiders, Cluster Flies and Ants will also be controlled with this service combination.
Box Elder Bugs are more active in the Pleasant Prairie, Bristol, Trevor, Wilmot, Paddock Lake, Salem, Somers, and Twin Lakes than they will be in the city of Kenosha or Racine. This is dues to the higher density of box elder trees in outlying communities.
QUICK COURSE - Asian Lady Beetles
The Beatles Are Coming! The Beatles Are Coming! Asian
Lady Beetles That is!
Many have been told there is nothing you can do to rid your home or business of Lady Beetles.This is not true.
Spectrum Pest Control has been eliminating Lady Beetles from structures for since 1994!
Asian Lady beetles enter structures during a weather trigger. Most know this trigger as “Indian Summer”. This is where the evening temps drop below freezing and then above 65*F for a daytime high. This combination will bring Lady Beetles into structures by the tens of thousands.
In their native country of China, Asian Lady Beetles will head to caves and rocky outcroppings during this trigger, where they are protected against sub freezing temperatures. In South East Wisconsin they have to settle for our homes, where they will spend most of their time in cool spots of attics, overhangs and basement sill boxes. If they settle in wall voids or window frames? They are likely to become active off and on all winter long. Every time the outside temps or sunlight warms them up, they look for food and water. Unless you have plants with a serious aphid problem, the beetles will die within a few days.
The down side to having Asian Lady Beetles in your home or even the walls is up to 90% will die over the winter. This can sound like a good thing until you realize that what you don’t see is the real problem. If you have hundreds of thousands of beetles dying in your walls every year, this could mean millions of dead bodies in just a few years. Most allergic reactions are to proteins. The exoskeleton of Lady Beetles is primarily made up of proteins. As these proteins break down, air circulation in the walls will blow these proteins throughout the house. This is why children can have elevated asthma on windy days.
When Is it too late to do something?
It is never too late. Expectations of results may need to change. In the spring Spectrum Pest Control will treat the exterior of an infested structure with a semi repellent product. As the beetles come out to sun themselves, they will move across our product. After a few feet of activity they will have received a lethal dose. Since the product is repellent they will then want to get off the surface by flying away or dropping. This allows the beetles to die outside the walls instead of inside, thus reducing the numbers dying in the walls.
Most lady Beetles you see in or on your house on a warm March or early April day are those who entered last fall. The more we can reduce those numbers, the better for you and your health.
What could I have done differently to prevent these Lady Beetles from getting in, in the first place?
"Spectrum Pest Control pioneered in Lady Beetle control way back in 1994 when they first hit the state."
Timing is everything. Because we know what triggers them to enter your home or business. It is with this knowledge that gives Spectrum Pest Control an advantage over the beetles and our competition. Spectrum Pest Control highly recommends pre-treating your home or business in the late summer or early fall. If Box Elder Bugs are also a problem, we may need to treat in late August with a booster service in early October.
What if I also have wasp or hornets? Or even other insects.
Fortunately the same application is good for controlling and
preventing wasp and many other insect pests. The number of pest we can control will depend on the area you live and structural features of what we are treating.
"As with all our products and methods, your family’s safety is our first priority. We only use products with a category 4 toxicity rating. The lowest any chemical can be given."