A small creature crawling over my mouse just made me think of posting this.
For some reason this fall, we’re finding a lot of ladybugs in our home. Normally, if one or two get in the house, we don’t really worry. But this year, there seem to be dozens of them all over.
Now, I know that they’re basically harmless–they’re not like roaches, nor are they capable of stinging or making irritating buzzing sounds nonstop. And they even make great cat toys–our three cats seem to think so, anyway, and have spent the last few days happily chasing them around.
But should we be concerned? Is there a chance that more of them will return next year if we don’t do something this year? Where could so many of them be coming from–was it the dry summer we had?
Anybody had this problem (if it is a problem) before? What do you think we should do?
Well, beyond being cute and fun to play with, ladybugs eat pests. They are most famous for eating aphids. So I guess one reason you are finding so many in your home is that there is a food source in or near your home somewhere. Do you have rosebushes or a lot of plants on your porch or some such?
Or you could be, unbeknownst to yourself, a 17th level Druid and they are just attracted to you.
Before I moved out of my parents house, the last three summers I was there, there were ladybugs out the wazoo in my bedroom. At any given time you could find 30 to 50 in my bedroom. I was kinda freaked out at first, but then I just figured that if there were going to be any insects in my room, ladybugs would be my first choice. We never did anything to get rid of them, the only annoyance was the tink tink as they rammed into the dome on the ceiling light.
This Asian Lady Beetle thing is really getting out of hand. This is the 3rd year in a row they’ve swarmed so heavily I’ve inhaled a few. They’ve driven out our own native ladybug population, and these suckers actually bite! And I don’t dare squish them, they smell horrible! Then they die off, and actually obscure patches of ground, their corpses are packed together so thick. It’s really getting old. But I don’t know what can be done.
Asian ladybeetles bite. Ladybugs do not. The easiest way to identify the ladybeetles is they have a white dot just behind their eyes. Native lady bugs do not. They are also lighter in color, though you would probably wouldn’t be able to tell unless you used a side by side comparison.
They were imported into the U.S. to help control aphids on the Eastern seaboard. From there they have spread across much of the U.S. and have replaced most of the native species.
These things were even covered in a Staff Report by Doug.
My house is crawling with the things. Last fall I thought "Awww, look - ladybugs! (OK, Asian lady beetles…they are the mean spirited orange buggers) And I didn’t kill them. That was before they all died off in the winter and I kept finding their little corpses all over my basement floor. I’m talking dozens, maybe hundred of the things. I was even finding them in the dryer.
This year I’m not showing any mercy. If I see one, it’s gone. And they do bite, the little bastards.
The administration building at my university has an infestation on one entire wall of the building. We’re talking 6 stories of ladybugs galore, for everyone whose office touches that outside wall. It’s like something out of the Amityville Horror.
My husband got bit by one the other day in our yard. I’ll inform him that it was an Asian Ladybeetle.
We’re just northeast of Toronto, Mnementh, so they’re spreading, all right.
Thanks for the replies and the links, folks. I won’t worry too much then, but I will be careful about the bite–I had a close look at one of them, and they do seem to be the Asian lady beetles that Doug mentioned in the Staff Report and Qadgop’s link pictured.
But that raises another question though–as I said, our cats enjoy chasing the beetles, and the Staff Report said that the bugs were toxic. Not really to humans, but to small creatures like birds and lizards. Should I worry about our cats catching and eating the beetles (as they do with some other bugs)? Or is a house cat too big to be affected, and will simply avoid eating the beetles after the initial bad taste?
Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. Suck 'em up and throw out the bag. Be sure to tape the hole shut so they don’t crawl out. We moved out to the country in Wisconsin 5 years ago and they’ve swarmed us every year. I used to try to be nice and let them die naturally, but we’re talking about hundreds of bugs. Squishing them leaves a mark, but if you’re carefull you can vac them and only have to put up with the stale smell they make for a few minutes.
So bleeding stinkily when squashed is a defensive reaction? Seems like their timing is a bit off. Also, Quagdop, I need to know what part of the country you live in so that I never, ever move there. Inhaling beetles… eewwww…
We’re getting them outside the house (all over the south-facing side) but not actually in the house. Plug up any holes to the outside so they can’t get indoors. Yes, they bite, and for no reason. They land on you and bite. One got inside when I was letting the dogs in, but it landed on a light and fried.
Man, they’ve been on the west coast for years, not bothering anyone, and you’re getting worried now?
They tend to occupy one corner of my bedroom every fall. The first year I left 'em alone-- but they always wake up from hibernation and kamikaze death into my halogen lamps.
Now I slip a bit of nylon stocking over my vacuum cleaner, suck 'em up (hold onto that nylon, eh?) then go empty the sock onto a pinetree. They like the folds in the bark.
I stayed in a hotel that apologized for a ladybug population getting into the upper floors. There were about 8 or so that I noticed. I decided to leave them alone. They didn’t bother me when I slept. I was there a week. No bites.
The domestic ladybug is a “beneficial insect”. (considered “beneficial” because it actually eats aphids. Another beneficial insect specie is the honeybee, because it produces a crop.)
As such, many states (such as New York, where I live) have put them on the protected list. Being a pest control operator, my license is in jeopardy if I target them in an application.
It seems that they go through a four- or five-year cycle where the population zooms out of all proportion, then settles down. There really isn’t anything you can do about them, either, although vacuuming them up and throwing them away is probably the best suggestion. Many people use a gentle suction vac such as a Dust-Buster, then dump the live ones out into the garden.
They will most likely be attracted to the southern faces of structures, going there for the warmth in the late morning and early afternoon. Making sure windows are well-sealed and attic vents have small mesh coverings may reduce the likelihood of an “infestation”, for lack of a better word.