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Box Elder Bug
Photos © Kim Hosen; suburban backyard, Woodbridge, VA; September 2010    

Eastern Box Elder Bug
Boisea trivittata
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)
Family Rhopalidae (Scentless Plant Bugs)

Size: 11-14 mm

Season: Fall, winter, spring

Food: Adults eat plant juices from maples, fruit trees, sometimes nectar. Nymphs eat seeds and dead insects

Host plant: Boxelder (Acer negundo)

Habitat: Meadows, deciduous and mixed forests