Not everybody will like what we do, but our method uses household items, and kills the box elder bugs quickly. We have made a trap from an old 2L soda bottle from when I had a get-together years ago. Cut all the way around the 2/3 mark from the bottom and invert that. At the bottom put rubbing alcohol (91% is best because it’s faster). Scrape your box elder bug into that container and make sure he falls through the funnel to the alcohol. It’s a very quick death. 70% takes longer. Catch what you can and flush them down the toilet. We have never seen anything that takes them out the way rubbing alcohol does.
Thanks!
Heh, I’ll bet acetone would zap ‘em quickly.
In a couple instances I’ve in a pinch used flammable brake parts cleaner on wasps. When I was much younger it was WD-40 plus a lighter. Crisp their wings even slightly and they are on the ground to be stepped on. Gotta be careful around other flammable materials, of course.
Now, funny story, 40(?) years ago I was helping run wiring in a restaurant / bar being remodeled, and we removed a drop ceiling panel and ran into some wasps. I yelled to one of the guys to kill the lights, and almost all the wasps flew to the only bright light - the front door of the place. There just happened to be a can of WD-40 on hand, but none of the 3 of us had a lighter. I proceeded to spray the nearest wasp anyway, and it buzzed furiously, but just bumped up against the door glass repeatedly. The fellow next to me said “I think you just lubricated him!” We all burst out laughing. Finally somebody turned up some real wasp spray, and that was that.
“I think you just lubricated him!” — Funny, how certain quirky things like that stick in the memory for the rest of your life...