Buckeye Yard and Garden onLine

The 3/4" long boxelder bug adults are narrow-shaped, flat-backed, and dark gray or dark brownish-black. They have three highly visible orangish-red stripes running lengthwise on the pronotum, the area behind the head. The abdomens of the oblong-shaped nymphs are bright red with a faint orange line running down the middle, and an obvious orange spot in the middle of the line. Their antennae, head, thorax, legs, and wing-pads are bluish-black. When encountered in a home, the nymph's shape sometimes causes them to be mistaken for bed bugs.

Besides sucking juices from boxelder seeds, the bug commonly feeds on seeds of other trees in the genus Acer, as well as on ash. Boxelder bugs have even been observed feeding on alder, apple, buckeye, cactus, geranium, grape, honeysuckle, lilac, linden, oak, peach, plum, spirea, strawberry, and tulip. As seed-feeders, the bug causes no harm to the health of trees. However, their feeding activity on tree fruit and strawberries has been known to reduce fruit quality. The boxelder bugs wide-ranging feeding activity simply demonstrates that insects pay little attention to their common name.

For more information, see:

• University of Minnesota Fact Sheet
• University of Kentucky Entomology Fact Sheet