I was over at my friends house last night and they were moving a hot tub from the rear of the house to the side of the house. I was just watching. hehe Anyway, Megan - my best friend - called me over to where she was standing and asked me what this bug is that was under the hot tub. I got down closer to it and I had no idea. I had never seen one like it before. My friends are always asking me what things are as I like nature - including bugs - but this one puzzled me. I went out to my truck and got my magnifying glass so I could look at it better. By the time I got back, there were now about 20 of these little bugs.
I decided to take one with me when I left and take it over to a man I know who knows all about bugs. He knew what it was right away. I knew he would. lol He said it was a "Boisea trivittata", or in normal talk a "Boxelder Bug". He said they were very common around houses that had pressure treated wood nearby and were always found in direct sunlight. I have been around pressure treated wood before and I had never seen this bug before and it was dark out when I first saw it. I think the lights that were being used to move the tub may have attracted the bugs, as he said they don't usually come out in darkness.
Also, Boxelder bugs will secrete a staining dye when crushed, so don't crush them indoors or you might stain something that can't be replaced.
This is the best picture I could find online of them. The are not very big at all. 1/4" to 3/4" long is about as big as they get. Cool looking aren't they? BTW, I returned the one I took. lol
Wow this is pretty cool really interesting. But in some ways really creepy when they are bunched together like that. It's like an infestion "Boisea Trivittata" taking over the world.
ReplyDeleteDo you happen to know why some of them are red and black and some are just black
"Do you happen to know why some of them are red and black and some are just black"
ReplyDeleteHi Shonda,
The blacker ones are the females and the red and black ones are the males. The males can always be found near the females and are rarely found on there own. The picture I posted doesn't show the red stripe down the females back that well, but both are red and black, just the females are a darker black. They remind me of bees when the queen is surrounded by the other male bees and just as the queen bee is, the female is the leader of the Boxelder Bug, just they are not harmful in anyway.
Thanks for the comment. :)
Happy trails!