Western boxelder bug
The western boxelder bug is a black bug with bright red lines on its wings and a red belly. Its babies are bright red and grey. It lives on boxelder trees, a kind of maple, and in autumn it likes to come indoors to sleep through the winter.
How big is it?
How long is it?
How big is Western boxelder bug compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
It looks almost the same as its eastern cousin, but it has bright red veins on its wings.
Its babies, called nymphs, are bright red and grey.
In autumn and winter the grown-ups often move into houses to hibernate.
Most asked questions about Western boxelder bug
?Are boxelder bugs dangerous?
No. They are harmless to people and pets.
?Why are boxelder bugs in my house?
In autumn they look for a warm place to spend the winter, and houses are perfect for that.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Boisea rubrolineata
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Rhopalidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Rhopalidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Boisea rubrolineata (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Judy Gallagher. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Pharaoh cicada
Spotted lanternfly
Brown marmorated stink bug
Cochineal
Boxelder bug
Western conifer seed bug
Dingy footman
Bluegrass webworm moth
Ringleg black millipede
Lami Beach northern jumping spider
Red-fringed emerald
Yellow-bowed smoothwing