Boxelder Bugs
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Boxelder Bug Facts
- Species: Boisea trivittata, a true bug in the order Hemiptera
- Location: Widespread across North America wherever boxelder and related trees grow
- Size: Roughly 1/2 inch long and under 1/4 inch wide
- Color: Black to dark gray with red or orange markings
- Appearance: Adults have three red stripes on the section behind the head and thin red edges along the wings.
Boxelder Bug or Red-Shouldered Bug?
Adult boxelder bugs are flat, elongated and black, with red or orange lines on the thorax and along the edges of the wings. When the wings are spread, the top of the abdomen underneath is bright red. Nymphs are smaller, wingless and mostly bright red, gaining more black as they grow. Like all true bugs, they feed through a straw-like beak rather than chewing jaws.
What they eat: mainly the seeds of seed-bearing female boxelder trees, and sometimes maple and ash seeds. They feed on other plant parts too, but rarely cause noticeable damage.
Where they live: on and under host trees during the warm months, then on sunny walls and in cracks of buildings as the weather cools.
In Florida: boxelder trees are native to much of the state, but large fall invasions of boxelder bugs are mostly a problem in colder states. Here, the red and black bug people most often call a boxelder bug is the red-shouldered bug, also called the goldenrain tree bug. It is similar in size and shape but grayish black, with red only along the outer edges of the thorax rather than the boxelder bug’s three red stripes, and a red underside. It gathers in large numbers beneath goldenrain trees, balloon vine and soapberry, feeding on their seeds, and it is common across Florida.
Both bugs are harmless nuisances. If you are seeing large groups on walls or windows, the boxelder bug infestation page covers what to look for.
Boxelder Bug Behavior
As true bugs, boxelder bugs feed by piercing plant tissue and drawing out the juices. They are named for their favorite food, the seeds of female boxelder trees, which are a kind of maple. They also feed on seeds of other maples, and on ash now and then. Host trees are where the next generation starts, too. In spring, females lay eggs on the bark, leaves and twigs of these trees and on nearby rocks and ground cover.
The eggs start out straw-yellow and turn red as they develop. The bright red nymphs that hatch cannot fly. They molt several times over the summer, gaining wings only as adults. People notice them most in fall, when adults and older nymphs leave the trees together and move toward buildings to find winter shelter.
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