Boxelders particularly dislike the smell of cinnamon, eucalyptus, lavender, and tea tree oil, which work as natural repellents, and citrus oil can be used as a natural pesticide.ĭon't try to eradicate the problem yourself if you suspect you may have boxelders in your home. To further discourage boxelders from entering your home, you may also use essential oils. If the problem persists, consider removing them. If you have boxelder trees in your yard, trim them regularly.
If they sense danger, boxelder bugs will emit a foul-smelling odor, which their bodies will also release if they are crushed. The stains are essentially the bugs’ fecal matter-yuck! -being spread along walls, bedding, and furniture, and can be difficult to clean. It's not always possible to clean up after them because they nest in cracks, crevices, and other hard-to-reach places.īoxelders also leave behind red stains, which can discolor walls, clothing, and upholstery. However, if boxelders nest in and around your home, they’ll leave behind unpleasant debris, which can emit odors that ultimately attract more boxelder bugs to the same spot. Problems With Boxelder Bugsīoxelders aren’t known to carry disease-causing bacteria harmful to humans or pets, and they’re also unlikely to bite unless provoked. Boxelders aren’t known to cause significant damage to yard plants, flowers, and trees. Boxelders’ young offspring, known as nymphs, are bright red.Īptly named for its preferred food source, boxelders feed on the juice contained within the seeds produced by boxelder trees, as well as developing leaves they’ll also feed on the seeds of ash and maple trees, and less commonly, on the fruits of some trees and plants, such as apples, plums, and grapes. What Are Boxelder Bugs?īoxelder bugs are black with red or orange colorations on their backs, with adults measuring a half-inch in length. Read on for more information about boxelder bugs, problems you may encounter with them, and prevention tips. You may overlook boxelders at first, but when they emerge in the springtime, they do so in droves-by the hundreds, in some cases-and you’ll be left with a heap of boxelder feces, carcasses, and other debris in places that may be hard to clean. And while boxelders don’t seek out food in the home or aren’t known to cause structural property damage, they do leave a mess in their wake. These bugs primarily live outdoors but, in the fall, when the temperature drops, they seek a warm, dry place to overwinter a search that may lead boxelder's into your basement or within the walls of your home, or in an outside structure such as a shed or garage. Boxelder bugs are nuisance pests, and they usually don’t cause a problem for homeowners unless they’ve begun nesting inside the home.