Well, last year I remember many many aphids sharing time and space with me out in the garden. Oddly, or maybe not so oddly, there are few to none out there currently. None on the chamomile- at least none that I have seen. None on the veggies, although the broccoli hasn't really taken off yet. Maybe they prefer the crucifers and that is why they aren't out as much this year. The kale is gone and I have quite a few other veggies out there instead. Plus, I left a bunch of clover for them to eat should they decide to take up residence nearby. There are a few ladybugs about, which makes me think there must be some aphid here or there, but as I just read, they may be eating scale insects as well, which are harder to spot than aphids. Ok, but after checking around a bit, I have definitely seen these little guys, which the ladybugs are apparently seeing as well. So that is what those little red guys are. Ah ha! Good to know.

What I have seen out in the garden, in great abundance, are box elder bugs. I mean, there are a bunch of them. And I have gone back and forth with them, first thinking they were box elder bugs and then thinking they were milkweed bugs. After reading about milkweed bugs, though, and finding out that they really only eat milkweed, something I am pretty sure is not out there in the garden, I began to suspect that they were indeed box elder bugs. So I looked at this photo to compare them and then I went outside to find one of the little guys and found that yes, they are indeed box elder bugs.

So then I went to find out what the heck box elder bugs eat and why they are out in the garden and I found immediately that most of the world considers box elder bugs to be a pest! The first link offered on Google when you type in box elder bugs is "Kill Box Elder Bugs". That pretty much sums up much of the attitude toward many bugs and certainly most bugs considered pest-y. For instance, if you type in ants or yellow jackets, you also mainly find information on how to kill them or get rid of them or keep them out. Some variation on that theme. But very little information on other aspects of their lives. You can find other information, it just isn't the bulk of it until you dig a little deeper. So I read some more about box elder bugs. What I mainly knew was that they are prolific. They look like this when mating, which is why I thought they were milkweed bugs. And I have definitely seen these as well. Good. More red bugs explained.

Here is what one page says, "They are found on low vegetation near boxelder trees and move to the boxelder when the seeds form. Another control option is to remove any female boxelder or maple trees that are serving as hosts." I just don't know of any box elder trees around, although I will be on the look out now because I am curious. I have a giant maple tree in the back yard and maybe I have seen baby box elder trees ab0ut, so there must be another one nearby. Just not sure where. And apparently the box elder bugs will feed on other plants, so maybe that is what they are doing out in the garden? Or maybe it is just a nice sunny spot to hang out in?

Ok, I just found it! They are feeding on that glorious silver maple that is growing in the back yard. And those red things on the leaves are apparently the eggs? It is all coming together now. Gosh, I am not feeling as kindred with the box elder bugs now that I know they might be eating parts of that glorious tree in the back yard. She is a female, too, which is what they like. She definitely has seeds and makes little baby maple trees all over the yard. So there should be a mass migration sometime in the fall. I wonder how dramatic it will be? Box elder bugs here today, gone tomorrow? There are maple seeds out there now and I suppose that is what they are mainly feeding on, although there are still a ton of baby maples growing as well.

Apparently they do little damage to the actual trees, so I am feeling a little better about them again. Perhaps it is just a part of being a silver maple tree to have box elder bugs about. It still doesn't explain why there are so many this year. There are hundreds more this year than last year. Hundreds. So many. Maybe the warm winter? It was warm last fall too, with tomatoes and eggplants into November. I don't know. What I do know is that if you go out into the garden, you will run into many many box elder bugs. But no aphids.