Posted by Ritch on February 15, 2002, at 10:42:26
In reply to Box Elder Bugs Eat Box Elder Sap » Ritch, posted by IsoM on February 15, 2002, at 1:36:03
> Horrid things feast on the sap from the box elder tree, aka as the Manitoba maple. If you pick up one & turn it over, you'll see a long , thin proboscis folded flat underneath their body. They don't go through metamorphism like most insects, but hatch from eggs into nymphs (like grasshoppers) & progressively grow larger. That's why you see them in diff sizes.
>
> Seriously, if you get something like a blowtorch, rake them into a large group & burn them. It's the safest & most effective ways to treat them. They're pretty tough regarding poisons.
Aha, so it is the *sap* of a maple. I finally went to a conservation department website and found they feast on leaves of "silver maples" and one other tree that is not indigenous to here. The weird thing is they got really bad just before my neighbor's *maple* tree got cut down. But the maple tree has been gone for two years now and they are coming back. The nearest tree is a large oak, and then a walnut. When I did spray them (once), it really nailed their ass though. They also were laying little rose colored eggs all over. That is when I realized they were out of control.
Here's that link, they got all sorts of bugs in there:
http://www.ext.vt.edu/index.html
poster:Ritch
thread:18191
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20020214/msgs/18310.html