Comments on: Box Elder Bugs: The Red & Black Beetle Menace

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:32:10 +0000

I have been killing these critters all year and wiped out some huge swarms of the tiny newborns this spring, so this fall I haven’t had as bad a problem with them, but they are still pretty bad. I switched to lemon JOY dish soap that I buy for $1.00 per bottle at the local dollar store. Dawn or any other liquid soap will work. For those worried about plant or environmental damage, just be sure the soap is a non-phosphorus variety, which most are. The ORTHO sprayer connected to your garden hose does a great job and clears large areas in seconds. Set it to 2 oz per gallon or just until the spray creates suds. It has never killed trees, grass or shrubs (arbor vitae) so get out and kill those little bastards!

By: SJ

SJ — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:07:59 +0000

UPSTATE NY and they are here too! Seem to “Swarm” in the warmest room, the living room with the pellet stove. We have a 250 yr old house and there are so many gaps. I will try this and let everyone know. Fingers crossed!

By: Diana

Diana — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:12:36 +0000

Glad to find this article. We are all way in Merritt, British Columbia, Canada. My Cottonwood tree and side of our deck was infested with them. I tried insecticidal soap, which was effective on some, but not so environmentally friendly. I’m happy to find that simple soap and water will do away with these bugs. Hoping now they won’t find their way into the house.
Thanks.

By: admin0

admin0 — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:29:01 +0000

It says in the article “1 to 2 oz per gallon”.
So just grab a shot glass and use two shot glasses for each gallon of water. All you need is enough to make foam. The foam suffocates the little bastards within seconds. I assume you are using a pump sprayer?

By: Gary G.

Gary G. — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:54:44 +0000

ANY SUGGESTIONS ON HOW MUCH DETERGENT I WOULD USE TO ONE GALLON OF WATER?

By: Gary G.

Gary G. — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:51:40 +0000

Can someone give me a good idea of how much detergent to use in a gallon of water….. I am infested with these bugs from hell…. No professional exterminator is worth the money

By: Vi

Vi — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 01:00:49 +0000

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By: Beetle Menace

Beetle Menace — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 17:53:23 +0000

They are in Oklahoma as well! I noticed a couple and before I knew it there were hundreds in my backyard. I’m going to go kill them now!

By: Shalan

Shalan — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 07:13:58 +0000

I live in Idaho and when I was a kid we had a tree that was always covered with them. As an adult, I moved back into that childhood house for a while and they were still there and going strong. They swarm all over the outside walls but we had very few indoors. We would go to the biggest group and smash as many as we could at once. They would flee but after a short time more would be back and we\’ld do it again. It was very messy but seemed to be effective after a while. This is good info because we never could get all of them. I just wanted to let everyone know that Idaho has them, too.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:44:07 +0000

We’re new here in Barron, Wisconsin and the oustide of our house was COVERED in HORDES of these black and red bugs. I remembered them from childhood in North Dakota and told my husband that I thought they were called Box Bugs. Boy, was he happy when he found this site! He rapidly threw together an empty spray bottle with Dawn dishsoap and water and went to town. Nothing amuses a guy like killing mass amounts of insects in a matter of seconds.