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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Pentatomomorpha » Leatherbugs (Coreoidea) » Scentless Plant Bugs (Rhopalidae) » Soapberry Bugs (Serinethinae) » Boisea » Eastern Boxelder Bug (Boisea trivittata)

Species Boisea trivittata - Eastern Boxelder Bug

Classification · Other Common Names · Explanation of Names · Size · Range · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · See Also · Works Cited

Eastern Boxelder Bug - Boisea trivittata

Eastern Boxelder Bug Nymph - Boisea trivittata - Boisea trivittata

eastern boxelder bugs? - Boisea trivittata - male - female

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)

Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)

Infraorder Pentatomomorpha

Superfamily Coreoidea (Leatherbugs)

Family Rhopalidae (Scentless Plant Bugs)

Subfamily Serinethinae (Soapberry Bugs)

Genus Boisea

Species trivittata (Eastern Boxelder Bug)

Other Common Names

Boxelder Bug, Box Elder Bug, Maple Bug

Explanation of Names

Boisea trivittata (Say 1825)

trivittata 'three-striped'

Size

11‒14 mm(1)

Range

much of NA (less common along the Pacific), Canada to e.Mexico(2)(3)

Season

Adults fall‒winter, spring

Food

Hosts: Acer negundo (Boxelder) & other Acer spp.; Sapindus saponaria (Soapberry)(2)

Life Cycle

Uni- or bivoltine. Eggs laid in bark crevices or on foliage/seeds of host. Nymphs molt 5 times. Adult females overwinter and may invade houses in late fall.(4)

Remarks

may be a nuisance when it invades houses for hibernation and leaves spots on furniture and other objects(1)(5); not a commercial pest(6)

See Also

Jadera haematoloma •

Neacoryphus lateralis

Works Cited

1.	How to Know the True Bugs Slater, James A., and Baranowski, Richard M. 1978. Wm. C. Brown Company.

2.	Carroll S., Perreira C. (2014) Soapberry bugs of the world (Rhopalidae: Serinethinae)

3.	True Bugs (Heteroptera) of the Neotropics Panizzi A.R., Grazia J., eds. 2015. Springer. xxii+901 pp.

4.	National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders Lorus and Margery Milne. 1980. Knopf.

5.	Biodiversity of the Heteroptera Henry T.J. 2009. In: Foottit R.G., Adler P.H., eds. Insect biodiversity: Science and society. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell: 223−263.

6.	Garden Insects of North America : The Ultimate Guide to Backyard Bugs (Princeton Field Guides) Whitney Cranshaw. 2004. Princeton University Press.

Contributed by Cotinis on 3 May, 2004 - 10:00am
Additional contributions by Hannah Nendick-Mason, Bug Eric, Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod, Matthias Buck, Mike Quinn, v belov, KenW, Marci Hess
Last updated 3 December, 2023 - 7:21pm

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