A popular and small black and red species of bug that inhabitants of North America are familiar with is the boxelder bug, scientifically known as Boisea Trivittata. They are common in places including Wheat Ridge.
Their name comes from their specialty for feeding on box elder trees, and while they do prefer this, they can emerge from other trees such as ash or maple. Box elder bugs, otherwise termed bugs, are, for the most part, regarded as nuisance pests in as much as they do not cause much harm to their host plants or houses.
However, they congregate and breed in large numbers, especially near building structures, especially during the fall and winter, causing discomfort to the owners of the buildings and triggering minor inconveniences. You can reach out to pest control in Wheat Ridge to fight their infestation.
What does the feeding behavior of boxelder bugs include?
Boxelder bugs are primarily seed-feeding bugs but feed on the box elder trees’ seeds and leaves and the sap of maple, ash, and other trees of the Acer genus. Their feeding entails the use of specialized mouthparts to penetrate the seed coat or the leaf or fruit tissue and tap on the plant fluids.
Their feeding, however, leads to minor damage, such as the browning of some leaves and the dropping of seeds. To be clearly stated, while controlling different pests could significantly reduce the health of the trees and plants they infested, boxelder bugs’ control has little impact on the health of the plants.
How do Boxelder Bugs impact the ecosystem?
It might sound surprising, but Boxelder bugs impact the ecosystem. Let us learn how below.
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Economic and Social Impact of Boxelder Bugs
While not exceptionally problematic in terms of their effects on the local ecosystem, boxelder bugs are more famous for the trouble they cause people. During fall, these insects can be found in large groups on the surfaces of the building, particularly on walls that are often exposed to light.
This is attributed to their ability to intrude into homes when looking for warmth, which can prove to be somewhat inconvenient, especially to the occupants.
Even though boxelder bugs do not cause issues such as biting people or spreading diseases, the sheer number of these bugs, the rather unpleasant odor when they are squished, and their dark fecal matter can be problematic to residents of infested homes.
Their secretions can also cause minor staining to fabrics and surfaces, thus resulting in property damage. Also, they intrude into homes and cause anxiety or frustration if the infestation reaches very high levels.
There is always a possibility of reducing the impact using measures like sealing the cracks and crevices, installing screens, using insecticides, and so on – most of these measures always need constant follow-up.
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Agricultural Impact of Boxelder Bugs
Boxelder bugs, in particular, do not seem to have any significant effect on agriculture. Even when they consume fruits and flowering trees occasionally, they do not harm the fruit trees.
Instead, what they do is leave some slight cosmetic effects such as tearing or bruising of the fruits or just damage on the leaves. Boxelder bug thus forms insignificant economic losses, as opposed to most aggressive forms of pests in agriculture.
They are, however, known to cause some minor issues for fruit growers, especially in some regions, when feeding on soft fruits such as plums and apples. Hurt to the fruit may reduce commercial value, but such incidences are hardly typical.
Get rid of boxelder bugs today!
Amazingly, boxelder bugs prefer to overwinter in human-made structures, hence making them indoor insects, but their feeding nuisance is not destructive to plants and trees. However, it will not be enjoyable to have them around.
If your property gets infested by these little creatures, you can use different methods to get them out. Pest control services are the most effective among other ways to get rid of them.
