The Boxelder Bug: Ways to Keep This Unique Pest Out of Your House

There's good news and bad news when it comes to boxelder bugs. The good news is that they don't bite or do much harm to your home. The bad news is that they often gather in alarming numbers on the side of your house. It's a disturbing sight for someone who doesn't like bugs.

Each year is different. Some years there are vast invasions of boxelder bugs and other years, their numbers aren't so bad. Local weather conditions have a lot to do with the size of a boxelder infestation, and the weather controls their behavior too.

While they prefer to be outdoors, the bugs will invade your home to get warm once the temperatures drop outside. Here are a few ways your exterminator can help you deal with an infestation of boxelder bugs.

Spray Trees With Insecticide

Boxelder bugs live in trees during the warm months of the year. If you notice a lot of the bugs moving around a boxelder tree or maple tree, call your exterminator. Spraying the tree may help reduce the population of the bugs, so there aren't so many left to seek a warm refuge in your home in the fall.

A more drastic measure may be to remove the trees that attract boxelder bugs, but you should discuss this option with your pest control expert. If your neighbor has trees that harbor the pests, they can still easily fly to your home, so getting rid of your tree might not help all that much, and you'll lose a beautiful tree from your yard. Regular pest control treatments of the tree might be a better solution.

Treat the Exterior of Your House

When the weather turns cold, the boxelder bugs look for sunny places to get warm. Unfortunately, that's often the south wall of your home. The bugs may gather there in large numbers to soak up the sun. That's the perfect time for an exterior pest control treatment of your home. This kills the bugs that gather on your exterior walls and it helps keep bugs from crawling into gaps and cracks along the wall.

Seal Your Home

Since it may be difficult to get rid of boxelder bugs outdoors since they can fly in from other properties, you'll need to have your home sealed so they can't get inside. When the weather gets colder, an exterior wall may not be warm enough for them. Instead, the bugs look for places to hide where they can stay warm until the cold weather passes.

They like to crawl in cracks, such as those found around window frames, siding, and doors. If the bugs stumble on a way to get inside your house, you could have an infestation of the pests living between your walls or in your attic. Therefore, your exterminator may seal up entry points around your home or show you how to do it to keep the bugs out.

Physical Removal of an Infestation

A quick way to deal with a large group of boxelder bugs is to suck them into a vacuum cleaner and throw them in the trash. Even though the bugs don't bite or damage your house like some other pests, they do leave red stains on walls and fabric as they move through your house.

When you see boxelder bugs inside, call your exterminator to get advice before trying any DIY pesticides. You may not want to kill a large infestation with chemicals and leave their bodies behind to attract other types of bugs.

Boxelder bugs are unique pests that behave differently from a lot of other bugs that infest your home. Controlling them can be tricky, but you don't want to ignore them. Otherwise, you could be swatting bugs in your house all winter.

Call the professionals at Paffy's Pest Control. They will evaluate the infestation outside or inside your house and come up with a plan to eliminate the boxelder bugs from your home and property.