# 1000 Hugs From 10,000 Ladybugs - Why are they all in my yard? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 7, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294 "2010-04-07T17:00:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/1 "2010-04-07T17:00:48Z")
I’ve been cleaning up my yard for spring, and I have approximately 10,000 ladybugs in my back yard. Any ideas what they’re all doing back there? Should I do anything about them (as far as I know, ladybugs eat aphids, and I’m all for that)? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/2 "2010-04-07T17:07:02Z")
Now that it’s spring they’re in your yard where they should be. Wait until fall when they all crawl into your house. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/3 "2010-04-07T17:09:18Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > (as far as I know, ladybugs eat aphids, and I’m all for that)? OTOH, I’ve heard that skunks eat ladybugs. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/4 "2010-04-07T17:11:09Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > Now that it’s spring they’re in your yard where they should be. Wait until fall when they all crawl into your house. They did that a little bit last fall - I had a couple in the house, but I didn’t mind. It’s supposed to be lucky. 🙂 (And I’m hoping that ladybugs eat spiders.) So, ladybugs to eat the aphids, and skunks to eat the ladybugs? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/5 "2010-04-07T17:15:42Z")
Ladybugs are predatory and hang out in soybean fields all summer. In the fall the fields get picked and ladybugs are displaced in large masses. They then look for shelter for the winter, which is often people’s homes. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/6 "2010-04-07T21:11:49Z")
It seems to me that at least 9 out of 10 of the ladybugs are goldbricking. ---
**Author:** ![Wordy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4491bb/32.png) [@Wordy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wordy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/7 "2010-04-07T21:54:43Z")
The lady bugs are just waking up from hibernation. They will soon disperse on their own in search of food. No need to push them. ---
**Author:** ![dragoncat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6a8cbe/32.png) [@dragoncat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragoncat)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/8 "2010-04-07T22:17:03Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Should I do anything about them … ? Of course! You should chant Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home. Your house is on fire, your children are gone. All except one, and her name is Ann, and she crept under the frying pan. 10,000 times. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/9 "2010-04-07T22:22:21Z")
Hey, I never heard the “Ann under the frying pan” part. Regionalism, perhaps? Sorry, **Cat Whisperer** , but spiders eat ladybugs, not the other way around. But hey, spiders are supposedly lucky, too - or rather, it’s unlucky to kill one. (Again … “supposedly.”) But around these parts, I consider it a sin to kill anything that eats mosquitos. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/10 "2010-04-07T23:24:53Z")
> [@Wordy](#): > > The lady bugs are just waking up from hibernation. They will soon disperse on their own in search of food. No need to push them. Oh oh - I just bagged up a whole bunch of them in with the dried grass and leaves. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/11 "2010-04-07T23:45:19Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > So, ladybugs to eat the aphids, and skunks to eat the ladybugs? There was an old lady who swallowed an aphid… ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/12 "2010-04-08T05:09:52Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’ve been cleaning up my yard for spring, and I have approximately 10,000 ladybugs in my back yard. Any ideas what they’re all doing back there? Should I do anything about them (as far as I know, ladybugs eat aphids, and I’m all for that)? Are you near any major university/agricultural area? They’re often deliberately released by farmers. When I was at Penn State, the Ag school would release massive numbers of ladybugs into some of their test fields, etc., as pest control. Thousands of them would wind up basking in the sun on the side of the dorms. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/13 "2010-04-08T05:55:39Z")
No, not that I know of. I’m a couple of blocks away from a large natural area (Nosehill Park, for any Calgary Dopers), but other than that, just a regular suburb. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/14 "2010-04-08T15:58:14Z")
Are they red or orange? The orange ones that swarm your house are evil – they smell bad, they bite, and they’ve pretty much displaced the red ladybugs I remember from my youth who minded their own business and didn’t invade the sunny side of my house. I first remember seeing these Asian Lady Beetles swarming my windows when they attacked my bedroom window in a particular house I was living in in Southern Illinois, which puts it around 1990-1991. There were so many, so suddenly, they pretty much darkened the whole window. Since then I’ve almost always ever seen these orange invaders, and nary a real red ladybug. [http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef416.asp](http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef416.asp) > [@](#): > > **One species** of lady beetle, _Harmonia axyridis_, can be a nuisance however, when they fly to buildings in search of overwintering sites and end up indoors. Once inside they crawl about on windows, walls, attics, etc., often emitting a noxious odor and yellowish staining fluid before dying. (bolding mine) > [@](#): > > The Asian Lady Beetle, Harmonia axyridis (Pallas), is relatively new to this country. If you’ve got _real_ native ladybugs, you should cherish and encourage them. These orange monsters I suck up out of my windows with the vacuum cleaner so I can trap them back out in the cold to die at night (or squash them en masse, but then they stink). ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/15 "2010-04-08T16:29:36Z")
Hmm - let me go look - okay, they’re a dark, brownish orange - mine only have five black spots, though. I guess those are the bad ones. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/16 "2010-04-08T16:56:13Z")
They sell them them at [Home Depot](http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CatalogSearchResultView?D=910832&Ntt=910832&catalogId=10051&langId=-15&storeId=10051&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntx=mode+matchall&recN=0&N=0&Ntk=P_PartNumber&eid=ShopToIt&utm_source=ShopToIt&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=910832), etc. After years of people buying them the population is out of control: well large anyway. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/17 "2010-04-08T17:24:34Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > They sell them them at [Home Depot](http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CatalogSearchResultView?D=910832&Ntt=910832&catalogId=10051&langId=-15&storeId=10051&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntx=mode+matchall&recN=0&N=0&Ntk=P_PartNumber&eid=ShopToIt&utm_source=ShopToIt&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=910832), etc. After years of people buying them the population is out of control: well large anyway. If they actually sell the ones that are listed in that link (not passing off non-native imposters for whatever reason), those would be the good, non-building-infesting, non-hibernating ones. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1000-hugs-from-10-000-ladybugs-why-are-they-all-in-my-yard/535294/18 "2010-04-08T17:49:24Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > OTOH, I’ve heard that skunks eat ladybugs. What do they do to the man bugs?