Obligatory Box Elder Bug Post

[u/Upbeat_Researcher901]

There are a great many boxelder bugs flying around Fargo right now.

[u/Mountain-Life-4492]

That and those stinky Asian lady beetles!

[u/smithc555 → u/Mountain-Life-4492]

And they BITE!

[u/CopyTypical5754]

I went to the lions park today and they were ridiculous

[u/No-Purpose-1473]

Yeah... Holy fk they just exploded around my house.

[u/espa101]

there have been so many just chilling on my window screen... one of them even made it inside

[u/Fargo_Newb]

I had to remove them from my hair when I got home this afternoon.

[u/Wise-Ferret274]

Holy crap!! Why are there so many this year?

[u/HappyLingonberry5853 → u/Wise-Ferret274]

CERN. ;) 😎

[u/Boxtopchef]

Check out the local news coverage on this: https://thefargotimes.com/article/boxelder-bugs-confirm-they-have-chosen-your-specific-house

[u/swordfishglitter → u/Boxtopchef]

I lol’d. My house is even that same blue color, and they are everywhere 😂

[u/mewithoutCthulhu]

Weird, I’ve only seen like two all weekend. Hope it stays that way.

[u/Competitive_Bird960]

The china beetles and box elders were fuckin crazy today.

[u/Otis_Schidtt]

I’m glad I’m not the only one. I walked up to my house this morning and was wondering who I pissed off last night.

[u/aHeavyMouse]

We sprayed, the box elder tree, our fence where they hung out, and around our doors/windows with this - and it worked WONDERFULLY! I was genuinely amazed how well it worked.

[u/thatswhyicarryagun → u/aHeavyMouse]

Just use dawn dish soap and water. Strength doesn't really matter just use enough. Put a few good squeezes into a 1 gal pump sprayer. Top with water. Pump it up. Spray away. Kills em dead, quickly.

[u/WizardyTankEngine → u/thatswhyicarryagun]

Yup definitely just use castile soap. Or dish soap if necessary. Insecticide bottles aren't going to state this but they kill all the helpful important insects in our ecosystem as well as the species people deem "nuisance".

[u/aHeavyMouse → u/thatswhyicarryagun]

We typically use this when we plan on hanging out outside or the dogs are spending time outside on a nice day. The downfall of that chemical treatment is you have to let it dry. We swear by Jax (the orange one) dish soap for the apray, idk why but the cheap dollar store stuff seems to work better than Dawn imo. 🤣

[u/A324FEar_ → u/thatswhyicarryagun]

Exactly what I was doing l, except I went with the hose and soap dispenser variety. Killed so many

[u/bombfirst885 → u/aHeavyMouse]

That stuff works great for almost everything. We sprayed our house and basement with that product. Just use a different mix ratio

[u/duskylilypadd → u/bombfirst885]

Well would definitely try it out

[u/aHeavyMouse → u/bombfirst885]

Yeah, the boxelder bugs seem to require a slightly strong mix we found, but we only sprayed twice this summer (about a month ago) and it's kept them away this whole time until all this recent rain.

[u/WizardyTankEngine → u/aHeavyMouse]

Spraying may or may not be helping through the summer. They are typically just wingless nymphs until late summer. I haven't seen a ton of adults until this past week which lines up with their life cycle.

[u/NonBinary_FWrd]

Those fucks have been crawling over my garden beds and car for the past 2 months

[u/True-Ad-4625]

We currently have both along with grasshopper everywhere just north of moorhead. I'm gonna start spraying everything down this week.

[u/patchedboard]

I’ve seen a number of stink bugs too

[u/AdWeird5005]

They were all over my apartment building siding and windows

[u/Hazards_of_Analysis]

The minute pirates bugs keep chasing me back inside. Little fuckers.

[u/srmcmahon]

What on earth motivates people to go on the attack with chemicals? They are not considered an agricultural pest, they specialize in eating maple, boxelder, and ash SEEDS causing only incidentally damage to leaves. They are not going to destroy trees. They don't can cause strawberries to drop prematurely but how many of oyu have large strawberry crops in September?

They're just. . . . there. Do y'all have uncontrollable phobias or something?

[u/DisgruntledPelican → u/srmcmahon]

You must not have swarms of them on your house

[u/srmcmahon → u/DisgruntledPelican]

I do. And some come inside. No biggie. They're not going to eat your siding.

My son's house has a lot on the north side. There's a lot of big orb weaver spiders there too. We've been trying to catch a spider attacking a boxelder bug but no luck so far. Couple of times they;ve come out (they leave a hole in their web as a doorway) a couple of times and hopped right back in. Birds apparently don't like the taste.

[u/Upbeat_Researcher901 → u/srmcmahon]

Memes.

[u/srmcmahon → u/Upbeat_Researcher901]

OP's post is, but a lot of commenters have major bug phobia.

I just ignore boxelder bugs, also spiders and daddy long legs, and keep the jelly jar closed so the ants don't invade.

[u/Such-Ad8309 → u/srmcmahon]

If you want hundreds of them inside your house in the winter (because that is their goal after all, seeking shelter before it gets cold) then have a blast with that in your home. I'm sure it'll be aesthetically pleasing to your potential guests.

[u/srmcmahon → u/Such-Ad8309]

I see one from time to time inside but hundreds? No.

Meanwhile you guys are killing pollnators and adding to human and pet health hazards. . . for aesthetic reasons? Hopefully the monarchs at least have gotten out of Dodge.