This bug appreciates a good recipe...

12 years ago

So I was making cut-out cookies with Wizardnm's Cream Cheese Cookie recipe and this Box Elder Bug kept hanging around(we still have a bunch of them that don't know they're supposed to be hibernating)so I gave it a piece of dough. It's been on that thing for over two hours so I thought I'd take a photo(yeah, I'm easily amused). I thought it might be after the moisture so I put a drop of water next to the dough. The bug went to the water for a while then went back to the dough.

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Comments (9)

booberry85
12 years ago
You're much kinder to your bugs than I am. :)
I see those bugs a lot with my work. They like to feed on decaying wood (like boxwood!) We've had such a mild winter so far, I wouldn't be surprised if there are still a few around.
shaun
12 years ago
I hate bugs ... Almost threw my iPad across the room when I saw that close up.
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anoriginal
12 years ago
Is that the same as a "stink" bug? Don't think ones I've seen here in NJ have red on backs. I see them as temporary "toys" for my cat... she seems to know NOT to try to eat them.
annie1992
12 years ago
LOL, Shaun, they're harmless.

noinwi, I have them here too, it's been unseasonably warm and so they just keep hanging around.

You are much nicer to them than I am too, I definitely don't feed mine cookie dough! (grin)

klseiverd, I think they are different than stink bugs, they don't smell when you squash them and we have a zillion of them the last couple of years, for some reason.

Annie
noinwi
Original Author
12 years ago
This guy will more than likely come to an unhappy end. At least it had a Christmas treat(and I had company in the kitchen). After it left the dough I placed it in a houseplant. It will end up on the floor and one of the cats will get it or we won't see it and step on it.
I haven't noticed any smell. Certainly not like the Asian Lady Beetles...yuk! They smell like rotten potatoes! We got overrun with those one year so bad in an old farmhouse that we had to vacuum them up regularly and if they flew into the bed at night they would bite us. We even had them landing on our dinner plates and helping themselves to a meal. It was kind of funny at first but it got old fast. The Box Elder Bugs are hardly a bother compared to those things.
I think it's interesting to watch insects and bugs eat(as long as I'm not the meal). In the past I've made nectar for Bumble Bees. I would use a dropper and put some on a flower petal and watch them go to town...like I said, I'm easily amused.
katefisher
12 years ago
Since I like to garden I don't mind most bugs. In fact the only quarrel I have with bugs generally are yellow jackets or mosquitoes. Except elder bugs. Ever since I was a kid I've been afraid of them. Right after we moved into our house when I was five I went in the garage and there was this huge, random swarm of them. They are harmless but that had such a horror-movie feel to it I was never able to get around my apprehension of them. I'm afraid Mr. Elder Bug would have had a one-way trip to oblivion without a last meal around this camp:)

Kate
diinohio
12 years ago
So that's what that bug is, I have had a few of them in the house lately and haven't been that kind to them!

Don't get me started on Lady Bugs! I detest them! About 20 years ago we bought a new couch and suddenly had a infestation, it was disgusting! I called the company (in South Carolina) and told them that their product must have been infected and my house was now filled with the damn things. They thought I was crazy. I'm not talking about a few bugs I mean hundreds of of them. They would be everywhere,on the walls(and yes they leave little spots where ever they land), counter tops, ceilings, and if they happened to land on you they bite!
I finally called the county extension office and was told that the government had released the critters to help the farmers! "They eat aphids and are beneficial to the environment"! They suggested I attach a section of panty hose to my vacuum, sweep them up and release them outside!
That never happened, I would sweep them up and toss them!

We still get a few of them in the house -usually in November but it has never been as bad as that first year. We live in a remodeled 150 + year old log cabin, so maybe we have finally sealed up the entry points.

Sorry for the rant!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday's to all!

Di
annie1992
12 years ago
Di, I had to chuckle, Dad actually bought lady bugs (which are different than those Asian Beetles we've had so many of lately),and released them in the garden a couple of times.

They come in containers that look like the boxes that chinese take out food come in!

Annie
lindac
12 years ago
Merry Christmas.....that's a box elder bug.....squirt them with soapy water and they roll over and die!
Linda C

Here is a link that might be useful: bug

This bug appreciates a good recipe...

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