I don't know about other areas of the country but here in Minnesota we get hoards of boxelder bugs. They seem to be worse some years than others and this is one of their populous years.
Although they are harmless, they don't damage the plants or buildings or people, they are unsightly at best and a nuisance at worst.
My husband used up several cans of indoor/outdoor bug spray to get rid of them but it never really seemed to make a dent.
Then he tried dishsoap! I have to admit I was really skeptical that plain old dishsoap would be better than a commercial bug product but it worked! The bugs are gone (and haven't come back!) everywhere he sprayed. I was especially concerned about my hosta that was covered in the bugs but the dishsoap spray didn't hurt it at all!
Give it a try, you'll be amazed! By the way, my husband claimed that his dishsoap mix also worked on the any mounds - I haven't verified this one yet though.
If you really want to learn more about them, the Unniversity of Minnesota extension service has a really informative page on all things boxelder bugs.
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I asked one of the administrators if they ever had to explain to non Minnesotans that they didn't have a cockroach infestation.
I've lived in some pretty hairy places in my youth, and 20 mule team borax was the only thing that worked against real cockroaches, I wonder if that chemical, present in a lot of detergents didn't dicourage the box elder bugs?
Thanks