Slow, languid, and uninvited guests are taking advantage of Harvard’s warm hospitality—or at least Harvard’s warm homes. The interlopers that are startling residents from their perches on walls and lampshades are Western conifer seed bugs looking for a comfortable place for the winter.
First found in California around 1900, the bugs slowly moved eastward, not reaching New England until the 1980s. Now they have become one of the latest home invaders in the Northeast, along with Asian ladybugs.
“I’ve become quite friendly with them now that I’ve removed over 100 from the house,” said Depot Road resident Tom Aciukewicz. “This isn’t the first year, but they are extremely plentiful this season.”
The three-quarter-inch, brown bugs are a nuisance but harmless, according to UMass Extension at Amherst. They normally feed on the seeds and flowers of conifers, particularly white pine, red pine, Douglas fir, and hemlock.
According to the agency, when the bugs come inside they are not seeking mates or nesting and won’t breed in the house. They will just seek a hidden place to settle in.
But, like the stink bugs and squash bugs they resemble, Western conifer seed bugs give off a pungent odor when threatened or crushed, a problem for removing them.
“It took me a few days to get good at grabbing them,” said Aciukewicz. “You really want to flatten them, but there’s the smell. So I grab them and then deal with them appropriately—either put them back outside or flush them.”
UMass Extension also recommends vacuuming the bugs if you can’t trap them. If left alone, they will likely die from the dry, winter conditions indoors.
Aciukewicz suggests an alternative ending. He found more than a dozen conifer seed bugs when removing an air conditioner for the season and threw them on a nearby roof.
“There were three birds up there within a few minutes. It was a feast,” he said.
