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My Home:
On warm sunny days I like to warm myself
in the sun, usually you will find me on the south and west sides of your
house. I will only live in places that have a box elder or maple tree
close by.
What I
eat: I normally feed on the
leaves and seedpods of the box elder tree or silver maple, but I cause
little damage to the trees.
What I
look like: I am about 1/2 of an
inch long, black body with three red lines just behind my head.
How I am
born: I go through four stages
of development: egg, larva, pupa and adult. My egg is laid on the
leaves, branches or trunk of the box elder tree. It takes only a few
days for my egg to hatch and another 45 – 60 days to develop into an
adult. I will hibernate during the winter and live about one year.
Fun
Facts: The box elder bug
lays its eggs almost exclusively on the female box elder tree, which
produces the flowers and seeds during the spring. They are not harmful,
just nuisance bugs because they like to winter inside the warmth of a
house. They can also be seen in the late summer under box elder trees by
the thousands getting prepared to hibernate. |
