County entomologist identifies red bug
By Karen Brainard
A red bug that has invaded a resident’s yard has been positively identified by the county as scantius aegyptius, also known as the red bug and new to the area.
Dr. Tracy Ellis, an entomologist with the county’s Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measurements, said the red bug is a seasonal nuisance pest.
“We will see it in greater numbers at this time of year, and for the first few years of its presence it will be more noticeable to us,” she said.
Alice Street resident Erica Williams, who first noticed the red bugs last summer, said they had multiplied and she couldn’t find anything to safely eliminate them. After searching on the Internet, she found a photo of scantius aegyptius that matched what was in her yard.
The Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measurements suggested she bring in a sample. That’s when the bugs were positively identified.
Ellis said it is important for residents to bring a new bug in to the department’s offices either in Kearny Mesa or San Marcos and to do so in a sealed Ziploc bag. For guidelines, see www.sdcounty.ca.gov/awm/entomology.html.
“We want to know if it’s a new insect in the county,” she said, calling the public the “eyes and ears of a new pest.”
Ellis said the agriculture department is interested in knowing how fast and where the red bug is spreading in the county. Shortly after learning of the bug’s population in Ramona, Ellis said she was contacted by a pest control company that had two accounts in Oceanside complaining about a pest with similar habits to the red bug, although the identity has not been confirmed.
The adult red bugs are seven to nine millimeters in length and are bright orange-red with black markings. The head, antennae and legs are black.
They are native to the eastern Mediterranean region and were documented for the first time in North America in Orange County in June 2009, according to the University of California Riverside Center for Invasive Species Research. Since then they have become established in other Southern California counties including Los Angeles and San Bernadino, states the university’s website, cisr.ucr.edu/red_bug.html. Scantius aegyptius are said to be a mostly seed-feeding bug.
Ellis said she would like to find out what they are feeding on in Ramona and she had a list prepared of common plantings that the red bug likes to eat. She also contacted entomologists in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties where the red bug has populated. Those entomologists said they have not noticed any damage to ornamental plantings in their areas.
As a precautionary note, Ellis said the following plants in the Malvaceae family are among those that could be vulnerable to the red bug: hibiscus, alcea, lavatera, althaea, grewia, lagunaria, pachira, malva, and gossypium.
As for eliminating them, Ellis directed Williams to websites for three bugs — bagrada, boxelder, and jadera, all of which are supposed to be similar to the red bug.
Suggestions are given for cultural, mechanical, biological and chemical control of the bagrada bug at www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74166.html.
Ellis said the University of California will likely develop a handout explaining that pesticides are generally not recommended for control of the red bug since it does not destroy crops of value.