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Boxelder Beetle

  • Scientific Name: Boisea Trivittata
  • Nicknames: Democrat Bug, Zug, and Maple Bug
  • Length: 0.4" - 0.6"
  • Color: Black with a Strong Red Accent
  • Aggressive? No
  • Do They Bite? No
  • Poisonous/Venomous? No
  • Disease Carrying? No
  • Invasive Species? No

The Boxelder Beetle

Box Elder bugs do not bite, but their piercing-sucking mouthparts can sometimes puncture skin, causing slight irritation. Their droppings make quite a mess and these pests can accumulate in great numbers in your home if left unchecked.

Warm temperatures interfere with their natural cycles and biology, causing them to reproduce year-round in unwanted areas -- your home! Adults are about 1/2 inch long, bright red or black in color with narrow reddish lines on their back. These insects pests feed principally by sucking juices from the boxelder tree, but are sometimes found on many other plants. In most cases, boxelder bugs cause no major damage inside homes, but their droppings stain curtains and other resting sites. This bug also emits a foul odor when crushed.

Living Spaces

Boxelder Trees Mainly

Diet Choices

Sucking Juices from Boxelder Tree

Fun Fact

Their droppings can stain curtains and other things if found inside

How Do We Remove Them?

One of the pest management experts at McMahon Exterminating will visit your home and provide a proper assessment and ID the bugs that are infesting your home or property to better understand the type of insects or pests that they are dealing with to properly coordinate a plan that will work best for you.

We help educate the customer on things that they might be able to do to help deter the pests as well, and will try to prevent this from becoming a reocurring infestation.

The treatment will begin and we will monitor the situtaion closely to make sure that the numbers are being depleted in the area. We want to try to deter the insects from coming to your area as opposed to just chemically treating them, as that will only be a short term solution for you but with McMahon's C.A.N. initiative and our three easy steps — Canvas the area, Act on those results, and Negate re-entry for the pest, we can work to getting your home to pest free status.