Seed Bugs Invade Plano Neighborhood

Homeowners in a Plano neighborhood are under attack from small black bugs.

Every morning, Maria Bortel finds thousands of the "seed bugs" crawling on her garage door, in her pool and, most recently, in her kitchen.

"I was in the kitchen cooking, and I open the drawer to get the measuring cup, and they were in the cup," she said.

Nearly everyone in the neighborhood can relate.

"Well, there is over 1,000 bugs all over our house and garage," 10-year-old Ainsley Halperin said.

The bugs started taking over the neighborhood late last week.

"It's unusual," Pete Adame said. "I've been living here almost 30 years, and we've never had anything like this."

He and other neighbors said they believe the bugs are crawling over from a vacant field at the corner of West Plano and Independence parkways.

"They are leaving their habitat because it's been so hot and dry, so they are coming to us," Bortel said.

Residents said they asked if the Plano Health Department could spray the lot with pesticides. But the department said there is nothing it can do because the lot is privately owned.

Experts told Bortel there is not much she or her neighbors can do to stop the bugs, which feed on grass seed and eventually move on.

"The small ones don't disgust me, but the bigger they are, the creepier they are," Halperin said.

While the bugs are harmless, homeowners say they are a handful.

"It's frustrating because you clean and clean and think you are catching up, but you are not catching up," Bortel said.

But she also said she's not giving up.

"We're battling them," she said. "We're going to get rid of them."