While insect pest issues within homes are to be expected during the spring and summer seasons, there exists a significant number of insect pests that are notorious for invading homes during the fall and early winter seasons in Texas. Some of these fall pests include Asian lady beetles, brown marmorated stink bugs, and boxelder bugs. These insect pests invade homes in order to overwinter within warm conditions before the arrival of freezing temperatures. In many cases, the above named insect pests only become problematic in and around homes during the fall season, and they tend to prefer dwelling outside in the natural environment during all other times of the year. While some common fall insect pests may inflict an occasional and ultimately harmless bite, such as Asian lady beetles, fall pests are generally nuisance invaders. Boxelder bugs may be the most common of all fall insect pests in Texas, but many infestations that residents commonly attribute to boxelder bugs are actually caused by red-shouldered bugs. Red-shouldered bugs closely resemble boxelder bugs and their pest behaviors are virtually identical.
During the spring and summer, boxelder bugs and red-shouldered bugs feed on trees, but once temperatures begin to decline during the fall, these two pests congregate on the exterior walls of homes where they seek out overwintering sites under shingles and siding, around doors and windows, and in cracks in foundations. From there, boxelder bugs and red-shouldered bugs easily gain entrance indoors by squeezing through narrow entry points. Once indoors, these two pests tend to congregate in wall voids and other hard-to-access areas where they can overwinter without being noticed by the homeowners. On winter days that are unseasonably warm, boxelder bugs and red-shouldered bugs naturally emerge from their indoor hiding spots in an attempt to escape outdoors. Since windows tend to be shut during the winter season, these bugs fail to escape outdoors; instead their corpses gather along window sill and around door frames. Sealing cracks and crevices on a home’s external walls will help to prevent these two pests from gaining entrance indoors. In serious infestations cases, pest control professionals nearly always succeed in eradicating the bugs from homes.
Have you ever noticed a large congregation of bugs on the sides of your house?
