OLDS — A town resident saw some orangey-red bugs congregating on a few trees in Olds and expressed some concern.
“I saw these bugs on a few trees along the path around Imperial estates (SW) end. They don't look good,” Wanda Spooner wrote in an email to the Albertan.
However, they're nothing to be alarmed about, say a Town of Olds employee and a horticulture instructor at the Olds College of Agriculture and Technology.
In emails, both said the creature in question is a boxelder bug.
“They are a nuisance more than anything. They tend to congregate and group in the fall as the weather changes,” Robert Spencer, a horticulture instructor at Olds College of Agriculture & Technology wrote.
“Spray them with a soapy solution and they often die. They won't kill the tree.”
“There is no concerns to humans. At this time of year they start looking for places to hibernate for the winter,” a town staff member wrote.
