Little red beetles all around...

[TheVBs]

... the outside of our house. Like, swarms of them! We're in Michigan. Does anyone know what they are or if we should be concerned? Thanks! :mickey:

[Itchy]

I did a google search with what little info that you provided and found that there are a few different types and color combo's in your area. Some of them were harmless and others maybe cause for consern.

I would do a search and see if you find exactly what you are looking at and go from there.

Hope this helps.:mickey:

[Jeff]

I've got a bunch of them here too. Mostly hanging in the landscaping rocks around the base of the house. Some spots are thick with them!!! We have never had them before!

[Altair]

Do you have Box Elders around? They could be Box Elder Bugs, the young ones are red.

[TheVBs]

I tried looking in DD's field guide and tried lots of searches online. Couldn't find an exact match though.

Jeff, same here, base of the house, mulch and rocks. Some areas really thick with them. There's also one raspberry plant they're congregating on which doesn't make me happy.

We do have box elders here, so I'll try a search for young box elders and see if that's a match!

[TheVBs]

Just did a quick search and it looks like that might be a match! It's hard to tell for sure, but it looks awfully close. The good news is, if that's what they are, they're annoying but harmless. Read that you can get rid of them this way:


Home remedy to get rid of box elder bugs


Mix 1 tablespoon of dish detergant with 1 cup of water and put in a spray bottle. Spray directly on swarms of these bugs you see on the outside of your house to kill them. Always test a small area of the building or siding first with the soap solution to be sure it does not stain the surface. Use a bug vacuum to remove them from inside the home. Here's how to make a homemade trap that can be used to catch them. It can be made by getting a large piece of white or yellow cardboard (since these bugs are attracted to bright colors)and covering the cardboard with vaseline or two-sided sticky tape. They will crawl onto the trap and get stuck. Don't waste your money on electronic repellers, they will not repel box elder bugs.

[Tygger7]

Try looking up "Asian Beetles" too...those were introduced a few years back to "help with pests" and now they are the pest. They swarm around windows, doors, and they especially seem to love my barn. They do bite, regardless of what the "experts" say, and if you squish them, they produce a really foul smell.

[TheVBs]

Thanks for the suggestion! Just did a search for photos of asian beetles, and what I mostly saw were the ladybug look-alikes. Although what you've described is the same description for the box elders, and it looks like these are young box elder bugs. The only thing that really bothers me is that they're on our raspberry plants. Don't know if they're really harming them or not, but it concerns me.