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It's Fall and, here in eastern Nebraska, that means Boxelder Bugs. Our culprit, the Eastern Boxelder Bug(
Bosea trivittata) is omnipresent. While they do not bite and not serious agricultural pests, the bugs are a nuisance by their sheer numbers and the fact that they often invade homes, looking for a place to spend the winter. The bug pictured below was one of several on my front porch
Boxelder Bugs take shelter on colder days, in woodpiles, under rocks and around buildings, so they are capable of withstanding early frosts and freezes.. Then, on warmer days, they emerge en mass, often in dense clusters near their food source, Maples. When I was a child, we had several Boxelder trees above a rock wall and the bugs would appear in clusters of hundreds. I have no Maples in my yard now, but there are several nearby and we have no shortage of the bugs. Adding to their nuisance factor, they take flight readily, The corpses of those that do not find adequate shelter litter porches and doorways.