Box elder bugs everywhere! Suspend pesticide?

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kbgfarmer
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Box elder bugs everywhere! Suspend pesticide?

Post by kbgfarmer » October 11th, 2016, 9:02 pm

Every fall the exterior of my house gets invaded by box elder bugs. This last spring as the snow was melting I saw a dark mass of these pieces of excrement huddled together on my south wall I presumed trying to stay warm. I blasted as many of these things with Raid as I could. Of course they are back. The only trees that I have are a bunch of oaks and an American sentry linden. Never seen a box elder tree and not sure what trees my neighbors have. Luckily I've only ever seen a few in my house which I've assumed have come in when I've opened a door to leave or come. I just ordered a pesticide called Suspend. Anyone have experience with this pesticide as a perimeter treatment? Any other recommendations on how to deal with these things?

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1977212
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Re: Box elder bugs everywhere! Suspend pesticide?

Post by 1977212 » October 13th, 2016, 1:15 am

I don't have grub lawn damage but I do have them crawling on the house. I spray my house with http://www.homedepot.com/p/Harris-1-gal ... /202527366

Mike2016
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Re: Box elder bugs everywhere! Suspend pesticide?

Post by Mike2016 » October 13th, 2016, 8:07 am

I've had great luck spraying our foundation every quarter with bifenthrin. Generally speaking, we have no issues with any bugs in/on our house.

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/bifen-it-p-226.html


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kbgfarmer
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Re: Box elder bugs everywhere! Suspend pesticide?

Post by kbgfarmer » October 16th, 2016, 1:36 am

I just used a product called Demand CS from syngenta as a perimeter treatment and spot treatment of live bugs and haven't seen a single one since. Worked great! They are all over my neighbors house now.

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micvog
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Re: Box elder bugs everywhere! Suspend pesticide?

Post by micvog » October 16th, 2016, 6:53 pm

Came home from church to find dozens of these on our house, and the homes of our neighbors (mostly the south-facing exposures). This is the first I have seen them. Do I need to do anything or do they go away on their own? As a native Californian, if I am going to live in Wisconsin it seems the least winter could do would be to handle things such as this. ;)


kbgfarmer
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Re: Box elder bugs everywhere! Suspend pesticide?

Post by kbgfarmer » October 16th, 2016, 9:14 pm

micvog wrote:Came home from church to find dozens of these on our house, and the homes of our neighbors (mostly the south-facing exposures). This is the first I have seen them. Do I need to do anything or do they go away on their own? As a native Californian, if I am going to live in Wisconsin it seems the least winter could do would be to handle things such as this. ;)
Yup they tend to congregate on the south and west exposures which tend to be warmer. They are harmless and don't bite people or feed on anything inside the home. They overwinter by making their way into attics and other areas. Some huddle together in a big mass on the south parts of houses. The only damage they cause is that their feces can stain carpet and their rotting carcasses can smell. I believe they are also called "stink bugs". They are a major nuisance. They do survive winter. They tend to live near the female box elder tree which is mainly a weed tree that typically isn't planted in home landscapes but are around nonetheless. I've also heard but haven't found anything to back it up that they also live near soybean farms. You can kill them with raid for flying insects or mix of soapy water. For longer lasting treatment you can do a perimeter treatment with insecticides such as permethrin or as I did specialty ones. So far some have returned but once they contact my insecticide they die or flee.

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micvog
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Re: Box elder bugs everywhere! Suspend pesticide?

Post by micvog » October 17th, 2016, 6:16 am

Thanks kbgfarmer.

Both wikihow and Planet Natural mentioned sprinkling borax around the perimeter of your foundation as a preventative. I have a box of that left over from micros for my lawn, so I am going to give that a shot.

They seemed to disappear as the afternoon wore on. It will be interesting to see if they come back again this week.

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