Can you identify this black & red insect?

January 21, 2012 4:58 PM

What was this (now slightly squashed) black and red bug? Back. Underside. It appeared mysteriously today in our apartment, in NJ. It was almost 0.5 inch long.
posted by fings to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

Looks like a Boxelder. Markings look proper, size is proper, and this is their time of year.
posted by Ufez Jones at 5:16 PM on January 21, 2012

Best answer: That's Perillus bioculatus, the Two-spotted Stinkbug. It's a predator that eat beetle eggs and larvae.
posted by TungstenChef at 5:25 PM on January 21, 2012

Best answer: Boxelder bugs are more firefly-shaped. That is a Two-Spotted Stink Bug.
posted by steef at 5:25 PM on January 21, 2012

Response by poster: Thanks. Now I still have to wonder how it turned up in our home today. It was some time after we had gone out to shovel the sidewalk and take our son to the park, so maybe it hitched a ride inside on one of our coats?
posted by fings at 5:38 PM on January 21, 2012

That's not just an insect. That is a full blown BUG.
posted by colinshark at 9:02 PM on January 21, 2012