CLOSED: What is this? Clustered on a fence...

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bolino Toledo, OH(Zone 6a) Jun 28, 2007

I'm going to put more pics below. These were clustered on a patio fence. Friend or foe?

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bolino Toledo, OH(Zone 6a) Jun 28, 2007

There seem to be 2 color schemes, male and female?

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bolino Toledo, OH(Zone 6a) Jun 28, 2007

And another

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kennedyh Churchill, Victoria, Australia(Zone 10a) Jun 28, 2007

It looks to me like a seed bug of the family Lygaeidae. The closest I can get is Neacoryphus lateralis: http://bugguide.net/node/view/95770/bgpage
but it does not look quite right.
There are about 7 species in that genus, but I can only find illustrations of 3 of them

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bolino Toledo, OH(Zone 6a) Jun 28, 2007

Thanks!

You might want to check out this site for more photos

http://bugguide.net/node/view/129/bgimage

The closest I could find there after you gave me the hint of seed bug is the one you mentioned, Neacoryphus lateralis. However mine have a red line on the end of the wings and the photos of Neacoryphus lateralis on the bugguide site do not.

However, they are very very similar.

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trackinsand mid central, FL(Zone 9a) Jun 28, 2007

isn't that like a box elder beetle?

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bolino Toledo, OH(Zone 6a) Jun 28, 2007

Trackinsand, do you have a link to a picture?

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bolino Toledo, OH(Zone 6a) Jun 28, 2007

Actually, I found them in our bug files. That is exactly what they are! At least not a foe! I couldn't find them before because they are boxelder bugs, not box elder beetles! (Semantics!!!)

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trackinsand mid central, FL(Zone 9a) Jun 28, 2007

sorry, and i knew better too. the phone rang as i was typing and, in a rush, typed in beetle. i was coming back now to correct it. glad you found it!

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kyjoy Frankfort, KY Jun 28, 2007

I believe they are lightening bugs or fireflys, part of the beetle family. I've had them all over my yard and have been killing them. I took some in a jar to the nursery and was told what they were so I've stopped killing them. I feel so bad now that I know what they are. The little tiny red ones are hatchlings. They become mostly black with red marking when mature.

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