What kind of a bug is this? [Archive]

View Full Version : What kind of a bug is this?

Michaelhatesfans

11-27-05, 04:58 AM

We rented a cabin Friday night, and these little buggers were EVERYWHERE. Walls, curtains, floors, and by the time we got home I saw that we brought at least two home with us. I assume it's a beetle of some sort, they were very passive. We just scooped them up with our hands and threw them out the door while our four year old daughter pointed and screamed at the next one that needed to be evicted. What are they?

http://www.ssmrocks.com/kimnovak/travel/oregon/florafauna/images/12_flora.jpg

Ankf00

11-27-05, 05:07 AM

I'm just getting a red X...

Michaelhatesfans

11-27-05, 05:12 AM

Weird, I can see it... :saywhat:
http://www.ssmrocks.com/kimnovak/travel/oregon/florafauna/florafauna12.php

http://www.ssmrocks.com/kimnovak/travel/oregon/florafauna/images/12_flora.jpg

Ankf00

11-27-05, 05:29 AM

dunno but if you dip them in some chocolate I bet they'll taste like chicken :)

Michaelhatesfans

11-27-05, 05:32 AM

dunno but if you dip them in some chocolate I bet they'll taste like chicken :)
They were everywhere, and we made s'mores in the dark, so you might not be too far off the mark...

Methanolandbrats

11-27-05, 07:59 AM

Box Elder Bug

Andrew Longman

11-27-05, 12:07 PM

Box Elder Bug
Yup

You'll often find them searching for warmth and moisture in/on structures near box elder trees .

Harmless.

Warlock!

11-27-05, 12:10 PM

Box Elder Bug
AKA "Stink bug"? Dunno if that's the one I'm thinkin' of or not.

We rented an old farmhouse when we first got married. I took the lid off an old coal chute and the chute was full of 'em... freaked my @ss out.

trish

11-27-05, 12:20 PM

Yeah, from what I read it says they release an odor if you squash them. The best way to get rid of them if they invade your home is to vacuum them up.

Tifosi24

11-27-05, 05:21 PM

Sounds like either Box Elder Bugs or Japanese Beetles. If they look like ladybugs they are Japanese Beetles, and it they are black and orange Box Elders.

oddlycalm

11-27-05, 05:54 PM

We rented a cabin Friday night, and these little buggers were EVERYWHERE. Let me guess, you were east of the mountains? Box Elder bugs are plentiful east of the Cascades. We always had a bumper crop of them on both our ranch and farm. Best passive defense to keep the population down to a dull roar is free ranging poultry, but the bugs are harmless to both flora and fauna. A big hatch is pretty amusing, as you discovered.

oc

dando

11-27-05, 06:01 PM

nrc

11-27-05, 08:51 PM

fourrunner

11-27-05, 09:16 PM

Species Danicus Patricus .... Harmless pest... usually just gets in the way ...
Stinks up the place when provoked ! ;)

Michaelhatesfans

11-27-05, 11:46 PM

Let me guess, you were east of the mountains?
Not far from you, actually. Normally our weekends away are much more interesting. But the last time we had a weekend away, everyone in the family came down with a wicked stomach flu, and it was a loooooong ride home. The four of us riding back three hours from the coast, plastic bags in our laps... :cry: This time we wussed out and just got a cabin at Champoeg Park! Camping a half hour from home - I never thought my life would come to this! :o :laugh:

dando

11-28-05, 12:00 AM

RaceGrrl reports that these beasties bite. I have been assigned to remove them from the premisses whenever they are found.
I've read reports of this, but never experienced it myself. I'm usually kind enough to collect the 'escapees' and return them to their rightful home alive. :)

-Kevin

oddlycalm

11-28-05, 01:07 AM

Not far from you, actually. -snip- This time we wussed out and just got a cabin at Champoeg Park! Camping a half hour from home - I never thought my life would come to this! :o :laugh: Geez, I probably brought them with me when I moved just a few miles east of Champoeg from east of the mountains back in '80. :o Anyway, nice getaways close to home are a benefit of living here. There's a winery/bed & breakfast just outside Dundee above Domain Droughin that I seriously want to spend a weekend at. Think I'll call ahead and check on the box elder bugs though...

oc

cameraman

11-28-05, 01:55 AM

RaceGrrl reports that these beasties bite.

So RaceGrrl a boxelder tree? They do go after the females of the species.... :rolleyes:

What they do is **** on everything leaving permanent tiny red spots on things.

11-28-05, 12:59 PM

Asian Beetles do bite.

Box elder bugs en mass in damp leaves are very slippery to bicycle tires.

pchall

11-28-05, 02:31 PM

Around these parts we have Asian Beetles, which look similiar to lady bugs, but have a yellowy-orange color. They were imported a few years ago to fight another bug, and decide to stay and be fruitful and multiply. Each fall, they seek shelter inside, and we usually find a dozen or so dead ones by the end of winter.

-Kevin

Those Asian beetles are overwhelming the true Ladybug population across the country. A Ladybug only has a couple of spots, while the Asian beetle has half a dozen. In some places you'll see the warm side of a house literally covered with them on a late fall afternoon. Why would anyone be so stupid to import the Asian beetle instead of just breeding the native beetle in large numbers for controling other pests? :shakehead

dando

11-28-05, 11:54 PM

Those Asian beetles are overwhelming the true Ladybug population across the country.
So much for our state insect. :(

-Kevin

Michaelhatesfans

11-29-05, 02:53 AM

I had no idea that this thread would be so popular. :laugh:

Andrew Longman

11-29-05, 05:36 AM

Those Asian beetles are overwhelming the true Ladybug population across the country. A Ladybug only has a couple of spots, while the Asian beetle has half a dozen. In some places you'll see the warm side of a house literally covered with them on a late fall afternoon. Why would anyone be so stupid to import the Asian beetle instead of just breeding the native beetle in large numbers for controling other pests? :shakehead

There is a guy who has an organic gardening show on the Philly public radio station Saturday morning. He speaks highly of them. So much so that he suggests if you get an infestation in your home to vacuum them up into a new, clean vacuum cleaner bag and keep them in your fridge until Spring. He suggested a few years back that if you didn't want to keep them to send them to him. As you might expect he wound up with quite a bit more than a few. :D

coolhand

11-29-05, 07:24 AM

http://www.qinmail.de/gallery/funpics/i_cant_see_****.jpg

Anteater

11-29-05, 10:27 PM

Well, it could have been worse--I heard all about this on the news while working out in the gym last night:

http://www.bugclinic.com/bedbug.htm

:eek:

trish

11-29-05, 10:40 PM

Well, it could have been worse--I heard all about this on the news while working out in the gym last night:

http://www.bugclinic.com/bedbug.htm

:eek:
I got exhausted reading all the stuff they want you to do to find and treat these bugs. I couldn't even finish reading.

Michaelhatesfans

11-29-05, 10:40 PM

Well, it could have been worse--I heard all about this on the news while working out in the gym last night:

http://www.bugclinic.com/bedbug.htm

:eek:
Ye gods, that brings back bad memories. When we were backpacking in India we stayed in a hostel with separate rooms for men and women. In the morning, I met Mrs. MHF in the hall, and I was moaning about how I hadn't been able to sleep because my pillow reeked of kerosene for some reason. As she was saying that her pillow smelled fine, she turned toward me and I realized that the other side of her face was covered in nasty welts... :cry:
Needless to say, I was grateful for the kerosene.