Hot summer could mean more maple bugs, researcher says

"If you have a lot of them now, it's conceivable you'll have a lot of them next year too," Entomologist Sean Prager said of maple bugs in Saskatoon.

Boxelder bugs, also known as maple bugs, are shown in a 2010 file photo in Windsor, Ont. The small bugs tend to swarm in the fall to large populations but are usually only pests by their presence. Brownbridge, Tyler / City

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A University of Saskatchewan researcher says the city could be in for an autumn chock-full of a very annoying pest thanks to a hot, dry summer.

Maple bugs, also known as boxelder bugs, are already beginning to pop up around Saskatoon, and have been spotted in small swarms on trees along walking trails and in green spaces in the city.

U of S entomologist Sean Prager said it might be a little early in the year to start seeing maple bugs, but also noted that a hot summer could potentially lead to a greater number of the pests than usual.

“It is known in other places, the more hot and dry you get, the more (bugs) you get,” Prager said. “And we did have a pretty darn hot-dry summer.”

Prager said there are a few different juvenile phases that maple bugs go through before they become the well-known black-and-red adult, but said the heat might make those phases shorter. And when the phases are shorter, maple bugs reach adulthood and can reproduce more quickly.

That means a chance at more “generations” of bugs, which could mean a larger maple bug population this fall.

Prager said maple bugs are quite common in Saskatoon due to the number of Manitoba maple trees in the city. But according to Prager, it would be incredibly difficult for maple bugs — which he classified as “piercing-sucking insects” — to actually kill any trees.

“They sort of weave their mouth into the tree to suck on the sap,” he said. “They should not ever kill a tree. They’re basically just annoying.”

According to Prager, maple bugs have the capability to hide and survive the winter as well. A cold enough winter will kill most of them off, he said, but also noted that a larger population could affect next year as well.

“If you have a lot of them now, it’s conceivable you’ll have a lot of them next year too,” he said. “But that’s somewhat difficult to know … without doing the actual math.”

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