elm seed bug

6177  Hello,. This bug is smaller than most that we’ve had, at about 3mm long.  They fly, and when threatened, they just fall and start to fly.  We live in Kelowna BC and we started getting these at the end of summer, and it’s now Nov. 30. They are attracted to our Lipstick plant that blooms small red flowers and have sap that the bugs are, I think, feeding off of.  The leaves were covered in them!  Last night I rinsed the plant off and many baby sized bugs came off, like this one.  Sadly, we can’t seem to get them all so the plant is outside now.  Some of the bugs have been hiding in our Jade plant but not nearly as many, so we’re hoping we got rid of their food source, but we found two more on the ceiling, this was one of them. If you can help that would be fantastic!   Thank you kindly,  April

This is an elm seed bug, Arocatus melanocephalus (Hemiptera/Heteroptera: Lygaeidae), an introduced species that has become a nuisance pest in many areas. See https://tinyurl.com/y77dynqq for more detailed information.  Ed Saugstad, retired entomologist; Sinks Grove, WV.