Firebugs of Utah's Journal

Keep an eye out for European firebugs during the City Nature Challenge 2020! Our community has recently posted some exciting observations of firebugs in new locations like Logan, Pleasant View, Heber, Coalville, Payson, and Cedar Fort. Are populations becoming established in these areas? Are there other populations yet to be identified? Help us find out!

The City Nature Challenge runs from April 24-April 27. You can find out more about The Wasatch team of eight Utah counties led by the Natural History Museum of Utah here: https://nhmu.utah.edu/challenge Any observations you make in one of the participating counties will automatically be added to the City Nature Challenge.

Of course, you can post your observations of firebugs anytime. We're excited to see where you find them next!

Greetings Utah iNaturalist Community!

The Natural History Museum of Utah is hosting a Neighborhood Naturalists BioBlitz tomorrow 8/24 from 10am-2pm. We will be at the Backman Community Open Space (an undeveloped open space just west of the Jordan River, and Backman Elementary School). You can find us at: 578 Riverside Drive, Salt Lake City, 84116 (more info in the link below).

This open space is slated to see some infrastructure updates starting this fall and into 2020, including a bridge over the Jordan River, and a complete overhaul of the open space, turning it into a formal City Park.

Before construction begins, we are collecting baseline data to inform the city about the current biodiversity of the site, to influence future management of the space. We could use your help documenting the species living in this open space, including Firebugs!

Come engage with the NHMU Citizen Science staff and other iNaturalist enthusiasts, and hep us catalogue the biodiversity of Backman Open Space!

https://nhmu.utah.edu/events/august-24-jordan-river-SLC-neighborhood-naturalists

Utah's firebug population is expanding both in range and in size. It was exciting to see your observations coming in from well beyond Salt Lake County in 2017. To the north, we had our first observation of firebugs in Ogden and, in the south, the first observation in Provo. Firebugs are moving east and west, too. You spotted them this year on the east side of the Wasatch Mountains at Soldier Summit and to the west in Tooele, Grantsville, and Cedar Fort. Thanks to your efforts, we increased the total number of observations in the project from 19 to 111 in 2017.

Where will the firebugs spread in 2018? With your help, we'll find out. Thank you!

1. How to identify a firebug.
   Firebugs look very similar to Boisea trivittata (boxelder bugs).You will know it's a firebug if it has a red body with two black dots on its back. Firebugs range in size from 6.5-12 mm (about the same size as a boxelder bug). They have prominent eyes that seem to come from their shoulders. Firebugs, unlike boxelder bugs, cannot fly.

2.Tell us how many you see.
In the "notes" section of your observation, please tell us roughly how many firebugs you see, e.g. 1, 10, They are taking over!!! If you see a group of firebugs, add a "group shot" to your observation after you take a close-up of one firebug.

1. Tell us what plants they are on.
   Include a photo of the plant the firebugs are on in your observation. If you can, identify the plant the firebugs are on and put in the "notes" section of your observation.

4.Firebugs are HARMLESS to humans.
Firebugs eat seeds, so your garden is not at risk.