box elder bugs

[schmamy]

The back of our house is SWARMING with box elder bugs this time of year. They are generally harmless, as far as I know, and a box elder bug by itself doesn't disgust me as much as a lot of other bugs...but when I open the back door and the other side of the door and the INSIDE of the screen door is covered with them... :yuck I don't even want to use the door! They can get in right under the screen door (but not past the wooden door because it's got good weatherstripping.

Any simple ways to get rid of them? I'd like to be able to go in and out the back door without dealing with the swarm of bugs.

[2TMama]

Ohhhhhhhhhh yes.....we've got these too. We've had them for YEARS now! My Mom says boiling water....my hubby uses a spray bottle w/ dishsoap/water in it.

The worst is that they POO on things...like your window sills...... But they don't get INTO anything....so that is good!

Good luck!

[backtobasicsmum]

They are bad here too. :yuck (We call them maple bugs....)
Unfortunately, they get in our house too....the boys love picking them up and putting them down the built in vac....while my dd just stands there screaming "BUG!"
I've never found a fail proof way of getting rid of them. Well, expect a really hard frost. :giggle

[schmamy]

OK, spraying them with hot soapy water did absolutely NOTHING...they just crawled away from it. I went out the front door and walked around the back...it is a hundred times worse than I realized :sick

I might just take a vacuum cleaner to the back door. That would work, wouldn't it? And then just empty it into the trash? :think

[made4more]

are we talking about box elder bugs or halloween lady betles/ lady bugs? I have the lady bugs really bad. I am looking at my ceiling above the window here in the livigroom and I see about 100 literally. SICK

okay I googled box elder bug and ewwww. I'd rather have lady bugs. :shifty

[blessedwithboys]

dh took entomology in college, and he says there's not much you can do besides (as you already thought of) sweeping or vacuuming away. They aren't attracted to a food source, so you can't eliminate that, and using poison for them isn't very logical since they aren't harmful.