Do any of you know what this is? My neighbor came over and asked me to look at a swarm of these bugs crawling all over the ground and on this tree. I have never seen a solid red bug before. For all of you scientist types, it is a race to see who can ID the big bad bug first. If it has no name, then I name it Red Jack Devil.
There were hundreds of them, babies and adults. They look like they have a hard exoskeleton, but when I smashed one between my fingers, it didn’t pop or crack like a ant. It squished ever so sweetly. My neighbor tried spraying RAID on them, but it did no good. (Sorry PETA, it was all in the name of science.) I went back in the house to grab something. When I came back out, they were all gone, except for twenty or so. (Click here to see more photos of the Red Jack Devil.)
There were hundreds of them, babies and adults. They look like they have a hard exoskeleton, but when I smashed one between my fingers, it didn’t pop or crack like a ant. It squished ever so sweetly. My neighbor tried spraying RAID on them, but it did no good. (Sorry PETA, it was all in the name of science.) I went back in the house to grab something. When I came back out, they were all gone, except for twenty or so. (Click here to see more photos of the Red Jack Devil.)
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8 comments:
FJ: A milkweed bug?
Me thinks so. Although the coloring is different, the body type is the same. Thanks. I've lived in MO forever and I've never seen this red of a bug before.
DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!
Freakin' scary is what that is.
BUG
It is a boxelder bug. It is the nymphal stage, which is why it didn't look like the pictures you looked up on the net when you phoned. The purplish things are the wing pads that will extend to cover the red body after a few more molts, giving it the adult appearance. These guys show up in large numbers in late summer/ early fall in SW Mo around groves of their food plants. Sorry it took so long. I was out of touch with technology. See http://www.ent.iastate.edu/clinic/node/58
Stacy:
You are the winner having correctly identified the bug. Thanks so much.
Jack
yuck!
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