These little critters have been all over our wood fence lately, and I want to make sure they're not wood-boring or otherwise harmful. I've tried a bunch of sites, but didn't come up with anything similar.
They're around 1/4"-3/8" long, have 6-legs, and look like they may have tiny wing stubs on their backs. Any idea what they are?
E36 M3 I don't see in northeast ohio is what those are.
No clue what that is. Reach out to your local extension office - probably university of Illinois, if your profile location is correct.
That is a red shouldered bug.
Linky
EastCoastMojo wrote: That is a red shouldered bug. Linky
"What should we call this one with the red shoulders?"
"Oh, I dunno, how about red shouldered bug?"
Looks like the nymph form of this bug:
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/trees/jadera_bugs.htm
Edit: D'oh, beaten.
Damn. I'm the entomologist and I got beaten to the punch.
MDJeepGuy wrote:
I have that cartoon on my bulletin board.
Gary Larson is a hoot. Hes been out to my place a couple times to check out the critters.
He kills me. The Midvale school for the gifted cartoon reminds me of my office full of PHD's.
84FSP wrote: He kills me. The Midvale school for the gifted cartoon reminds me of my office full of PHD's.
It reminds me of my children.
In reply to mazdeuce:
I'm not sure what it reminds me of, but this damn door won't open.
In reply to EastCoastMojo:
Thanks! Looks like they're mostly harmless so I can let them carry on their merry ways. 
Dyslexia can be fun. I thaught that the OP was looking for an expert on these.
In reply to dean1484:
I should have asked if there were any etymologists here, then asked them to explain the history of the word entomologist.
I was going to say they look like a Box Elder bug but with more red. Then using the link found the Box Elder and it looks to be a very close relative.
I've been killing Box Elders and Lady Bugs (Asian Beetle?) in our house for a month now. Our house sat empty for 6 months before we moved in.
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