Lady Bugs?

[tis]

I don't think they are really lady bugs, I think I heard they were brought in a few years ago to kill some other kind of insect, but, is anyone else having trouble with them? They are all over the house and driving me crazy! They seem to love the sunniest rooms. Does anyone know HOW to get rid of them?

[sa meredith]

They are everywhere, down here in my home in southern NH. Seems like on that first warm day of the spring they appear out of no where. Hang around for bit, and then disappear.
Getting tired of swatting them and then cleaning them up.
Worst thing is our 2 yr old cat has a field day chasing them all day, often climbing the window blinds to get at them. He thinks it's the greatest thing...

[upthesaukee]

Lady bugs kill aphids and other small parasitic type pests. They are a good bug, but agreeably can drive you (and cats) crazy with their bouncing of the ceilings or climbing around the inside of a lampshade (especially when a 23 lb cat decides to jump at it through the shade).

[Tiger Lilly]

We have had a horrible problem with them down here in Maryland. I think it is actually something called a Lady Bird Beetle. It's getting better - we don't have quite the masses that we used to -- maybe they headed north. Zillions of them in your house are NOT fun! I don't really know if it works, but in the fall when they are trying to get in, I close up the house and turn on the air conditioning to try and discourage them and wear a sweater. Good luck!

[Lucy Goose]

They are a different form of so-called Lady Bug than our original. They are Asian Beetles and were brought over here.

In an attempt to sell "natural pest control", certain
companies around the country have been importing
lady bugs from other parts of the world and selling
them. These lady bugs have been marketed as being
more aggressive and hearty than our own indigenous
species. One feature of their biology, however, is
that they do not die each winter. They hibernate.
Unlike our own native species, these imports like
to over winter on mountainsides, rocks and caves.
Such environments are readily available in certain
parts of our country, but since these lady bugs
are being released in areas where such terrain
does not exist they are taking advantage of the
next best thing - our homes!

You can check out reading here: although the videos are missing but it has a lot of information.

http://www.bugspray.com/articles98/ladybugs.html


We have had problems in our last home, our current home and our vacation home up at the lake. We have used the CYPERMETHRIN they talk about and a few other products. I don't like using the stuff but I also do love my homes and do not appreciate coming home to my house full of them. If you have an a/c unit that is not covered you are asking for it. We forgot to take ours out one year and I came home to literally thousands of them in my bedroom. I had to vacuum them up which destroyed the vacuum because these particular ladybugs have a very strong odor. Squish one and you will see.

This is a useful site which is where I found the ladybug stuff.

http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page1.html

You have to keep up with or they will take over. I really wish they would think about what they are doing when they introduce something new to control something else.

[Rattlesnake Gal]

The stain of ladybugs that you are currently seeing are from Asia. Asian Ladybugs can actually nip, but they do not break the skin. These are not the same docile creatures of old, but are still beneficial and harmless. Unlike the ladies from our childhood, these bugs hibernate, which is the reason we are seeing so many of them.

[SIKSUKR]

Originally Posted by Rattlesnake Gal

The stain of ladybugs that you are currently seeing are from Asia. Asian Ladybugs can actually nip, but they do not break the skin. These are not the same docile creatures of old, but are still beneficial and harmless. Unlike the ladies from our childhood, these bugs hibernate, which is the reason we are seeing so many of them.

Boy that explains why they are so prevelent very early in the spring.They love the warm sun and lighbulbs.I just vacum them into my central system and dump them in the trash.

[Mee-n-Mac]

I recall the LB's of old hibernating, we used to see then gather inside the cabins and sometimes in the house in the fall and then reappear in the spring. This past year I've seen them in my mothers house all winter as well as now. I've been working in some temp trailers in Pelham and they've been there all winter as well. It's only now that I'm seeing them go away. Perhaps they are leaving to go outside, which is a good thing for all concerned. I was just about to set up a laser based bug fry'n'die.

[WinnDixie]

Those Asian ones, that look like RG's picture, were coming in our house here (and everyone elses too) all winter long. They got really bad during Feb. and Mar. Recently, though, we have had temps. in the mid to high 80's for about a week...they all seem to have gone out now. They did drive you crazy and...you're right..they have an awful odor when smashed! Been chilly the last couple of days, but they have not come back, and I pray they do not! One day last fall a couple of us got swarmed by them, like you wouldn't believe, while we were golfing. They were all over us, the golf cart...everything! Creepy! You couldn't get away from them...a mini Alfred Hitchcock!! It was only on one hole, too. Seems to me, also, that this has been a worse problem in recent years--much more than a few years ago. Do they have cycles?

[ApS]

Originally Posted by SIKSUKR

Boy that explains why they are so prevelent very early in the spring.They love the warm sun and lighbulbs.I just vacum them into my central system and dump them in the trash.

A few years ago, an elderly widow tasked me with that problem. I asked her, "Did you bring any plants inside last Fall?"

She had and there were Ladybugs all over!

I opened one small sunny window—removed the screen—and put the shades down on all the others. The sunlight attracted the Ladybugs, and they all evacuated on schedule.

BTW: I got a small nip from a Ladybug last month. It was entirely gun-metal-blue in color!

[tis]

I guess we all hate them! They are awful, they do smell and it is creepy because they are everywhere! It seems once they are in the house it is hard to get them out. Even that guy in the video seemed to do every crack and crevice. It also sounds like it might be a bad year, although I hope it isn't that there are just going to be more and more of them. Now that IS creepy! The takeover of the Asian Beetles!

But I am glad, that I not alone!

[Lucy Goose]

If you don't spray now and again in the fall, they will be back to haunt and then in the fall is when they get in the house to stay. I don't like spraying but I am tired of finding them all over the house. So when we see them coming in the fall we spray like crazy.

[tis]

LucyG. Do you use that stuff in the video or do you have something else? I have never heard of that and was hoping something else might work. Or is that an ingredient in a spray with a name that would be more familiar to us?

[Lucy Goose]

I use the stuff in the video. They are pretty tough varments to get rid of. And you have to keep up with it unfortunately. But if you do you will have much less incidents of them being in the house. If you don't and your house is prone it will just continue to get worse. Believe me, I've been dealing with it on my past two houses and now a third. I was glad to find this stuff. It has helped immensely.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by Rattlesnake Gal

The stain of ladybugs that you are currently seeing are from Asia. Asian Ladybugs can actually nip, but they do not break the skin. These are not the same docile creatures of old, but are still beneficial and harmless. Unlike the ladies from our childhood, these bugs hibernate, which is the reason we are seeing so many of them.

I had a recent occasion to "save" a ladybug, just like the one in the photo.

"She" (this is a ladybug) was on the surface of the lake, and directly in front of two foraging Mallards: keeping in mind that we are not to be "feeding the ducks" I used both hands to scoop the little critter up.

What a surprise to see that ladybugs are actually "pretty-good" swimmers! All of those legs moving in earnest reminds me of a Harvard rowing team. ("Lady" division).

Keep a snack away from a duck! Give it a try—right now, ladybugs are stranded all over the surface of Lake Winnipesaukee—even out in The Broads!

[Argie's Wife]

If it wasn't for ladybugs invading my house, hanging out god-knows-where, but suddenly appearing on my walls and ceilings in January, my cats would have nothing to do! But after the Christmas tree comes down, the little hardshelled cat toys come out and everyone is happy...

[Pricestavern]

Lady Bug, Lady Bug
Fly away home
Your house is on fire
and your children at home