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Photo#97924
Western box elder bug for California in March - Boisea rubrolineata

Western box elder bug for California in March - Boisea rubrolineata
Santiago Canyon, Orange County, California, USA
March 10, 2007
While I've seen a lot in eastern US cities, this is my first in California. We saw many in the field, mostly about a foot off the ground and on brush. Sycamore trees are just starting to produce leaves, and this bug was sucking on one of the buds. (Box elder, maple and ash are more often listed as trees they favor. I'm not sure we have box elder locally, and I've never seen a maple in Southern California.)

Maples
I haven't run across them myself, but there's one species which is widespread throughout California (excluding the deserts, the Central Valley and the higher mountains), as is the box elder. You would find them in woodsy areas near streams.

 
Oh, I'd hoped you would comment.
Thanks, Chuck. I think Liquid Amber is Orange County's maple "equivalent", but I miss the real thing. In Chardon, Ohio, near where I lived for my first thirty years, we regularly attended maple sugar festivals. "Wodsy areas near streams" certainly describes the spot where we saw the bugs.

 
Addendum: Shot was taken by Maple Springs Road.
Duh!

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