Are you getting invaded by Asian Lady Bugs?

Those little lady bugs just about drove me batty last year!
I was vacuuming 100's a day and they just kept coming.
Today, they have returned. ARGH!
Tam

I haven't seen much of them here so far.

I was on the ladder caulking the front of the house, in the sun, first warmish day in two weeks, and there were THOUSANDS!! All over. Where do they come from?
At least they were on the outside!!

That's how it starts! They swarm on the south side of the house and barn.
Our white house turns red! And they find their way into the house. Our attic
floor is covered with their dead bodies (ok - I never clean up there). Last
year was the worst ever. I just hope we dont' get the massive invasion
we had last year again!

I read they came to the US about 8-9 yrs ago. They like to overwinter in our
nice warm homes.
Tam

They "just" began to become apparent yesterday - but not in the usual hordes we get them in. Not yet anyway.

Oh yeah, those! I guess I missed them. I think we get them in the spring also.Pesty little things that like to go on up to the ceiling and cluster up there where it is hard to vacuum them up. They drive my cats and myself crazy.

They arrived here about a week ago, we have SOOOOOOOOO many :( I hate them, my kids are afraid of them, they stink and are so nasty.

Hopefully the weather will turn cold and kill them off soon

Janis

They just showed up at our house yesterday too, pretty consistant timing. With all the rain and flooding we've been having up here I thought they might be later this year.
We already have them in the house, flying around. Our Doxie jumped up on the back of the couch yesterday trying to get one. He jumped straight up into the air from there and not only missed the ladybug, but missed the back of the couch when he came back down. He fell straight down behind the couch in the small space between the couch and the wall. I thought for sure he would have gotten hurt but before I could pull the couch away from the wall, he had run under it and was back on the couch to get that anoying ladybug!

Are these the typical red and black ladybugs or a different kind. We get them here in the spring but never in the fall. UMMMM.....Other then annoying and making a mess do they cause any damage???

Wondering will I have them at the new house in SC.

Just swept the front porch for the trick or treaters and saw hundreds of the orangish lady bugs....what do you do about them?!!

We've not had them at our house before, but I know the neighbors complained last year about a horrible invasion inside their home.

Yikes. At least we're in theme for the evening! t.

They don't really cause "harm" though I swear they can sting.
Don't stand on the south side of a building on a warm fall day!

But - if it bothers you to have the floor, walls, windows and even
the ceiling crawling with hundreds (or more) of lady bugs, then
they are bothersome. They drive me batty!!!!!!

Tam

I thought i was being invaded by ladybugs yest, and thought "now how cool is that??" until i started researching and found that they aint ladybugs, lol.
What i remember about the article is the do bite and if you squish them they will stain whatever it is you squished them on.
We pulled out the shop vac last night and went to town with it.

MsJen--So glad to see you posting again! And from NY now. Hope all is well with you and your family and that you are liking your new place (even with the awful lady bugs )...

I do think they can get to be really troublesome, especially if they get inside your walls--at least that's what my neighbors say...

Ah, well...

Where is Dansville, by the way?

Hi!!

We're about 40 miles south of Rochester not to far from 390. Up here on the hill we have a 10 mile view and its breathtaking when the sun is out.

It feels good to wake up with power and cold food ; )

If you vacuum them up, make sure to empty the bag immediately.....they will stink the sweeper up so bad you'll think you'll never get the smell out of it. Jay

Our yard is right next to the woods, and for the past 3 years we've had a terrible infestation of them....outside and in.

Yes, on a warm fall day (usually after the first hard freeze) you can't even walk on the southwest side of our house....they're everywhere! You have to run into the house, and even then....there are several in your hair, your shirt, your pants, etc......

They do bite...but I've heard/been told that they're just 'tasting' you to see if you're good to eat!

We were told to use a product called PesTabs....they're like a 'lozenge' (not edible!) that you dissolve into a sprayer....spray your home exterior (including cracks and crevices) in the fall right after the first freeze and the numbers that enter your home will dwindle.

We used it this year and last year, and it has helped immensely!

I've actually placed them on plants with insects, and they don't seem to be interested. They do like food and sweet drinks, though.

The year before last we had swept huge piles of dead ones outside (about 5' long and 1.5" deep) (apparently they don't live too long) and our windowsills were covered with dead ones as well.

I told my DH that if they were that bad the next year (this year) that I was moving!!
After using the PesTabs....I decided to stay! (lol)

I'm going to find a source right away! They just drove me batty last year.
Don't know if I can handle another winter with them.
Tam

About three years ago they were real heavy on the west side of my house. Have'nt been quite as many since. Drives me nuts that they also get in the house. Been bit by them ahhhh... And yes they do stink when you squash them. Yekkk

if you squash them the stink is what attracts the others. i had them so bad the last few years it drove me crazy.

the more you kill the less each year comes back. they are like homing pigeons or bees they tell the others where to go.

i finally went to the county ext agent and he gave me the following advice.


do squish just vaccum and bag. bug spray works good too then vacumm up.

they do bite as these are not lady bugs but beetles. clean with alcohol and neosprosin cream.

dont let animals eat them as will cause foaming at the mouth. if happens wash animals mouth out with warm water.

they are attacted to light colors on the warm side of the houses.


seal up all cracks and windows and any other place they may get into.

last year i waited till alot got into my attic moved the animals out to the garage and bombed the house with raid cans. worked like a dream.


they were brought here to control the insects eating crops. the government thought they wouldnt mulitiply like they did. i wanted to scream it was so bad. i have a whitye house.

You know, I was going to say that above....that I think they're attracted to the dead bodies of their 'cohorts'.....seems that wherever there are a few dead ones....the live ones tend to congregate there!

I had heard that they were brought here to control the pecan aphid. Someone on the radio a couple of weeks ago said they were doing a great job of combatting aphids on corn (we do have a large cornfield right across the road, but they're coming from the woods....*not* the cornfield*) .....but... IMHO.....*ours* have evolved into a non- beneficial PEST.....I have a house full of plants, and they don't go near them.....I've even placed them, intentionally, on plants with insects, and they won't stay there!

We had a hot day today and guess what?
So many of the darn things we had to close the warehouse doors.
None yesterday.
I got bit at least 4 times.
Not painful just annoying.

Ric

imzadi - I think I'll try that "bomb in the attic" trick. I hate anything non-organic
though. Did it clear up the problem for the full winter? (And I have a white house
too. )

Tam

i did it in the atttic last year and all the ones on my screen porch met with flying insect spray and so far knock on wood i havent seen but a few this year.

i know when i did the spray last year they avoided it like the plague. i did it twice( a few weeks apart)( also kills any other bugs you have up there) and that was it. it kills them really quick.


the raid indoor bombs were in orange cans like the mini soda cans.

i hate them. but so far nothing but they says its gonna get warm agian so i went and got the bombs and spray just in case.


they are a pest!!!!!!! i dont care what they were brought here for i want them gone.

hay msJen , im right below ya , next to foster wheeler :)

i only got 2 lady bugs flying in the house , not sure what one they are.
so i just catch them and put them on the plants and sick them on any
spider mites that might be hiding.

my son has a friend that lives on buck? i emailed you, maybe we can get together : )

is it normal for these things to congregate in clusters in corners? i swear in this one corner there must be 100 of them all on top of each other

they follow each othe by scent and especially the scent of the sqished ones. they come in herds. and they do bite.


regular ledy bugs are red like candy apple red. these vary from a orangish red to a mute red. they cluster . normal lady bugs dont.

Well - after the initial swarming I saw last week, we have not yet been invaded.
But I think I'll pick up some of those bombs for the attic just in case - it HAS been
warm so maybe they are biding their time, before coming in...
Tam

the swarmiing can happen over a month period. there were days i didnt get any then wham here they are.

just be prepared is my motto.

They invaded my MIL's house in the eastern ozarks in Ark. She had them in her car, on her car and in the house. She swore they bit, too. Now I believe her after all your testimonials. They stink also.

We've had several hard freezes so I think ours are all gone, at least the outdoor ones. I find one or two in the house every day, either dead or hovering around a lamp that's on. Cats don't seem to pay any attention, and I usually just use the vacuum to "catch" them. Last year they were gathering in hordes on the south side of the house in fall, but I didn't see nearly as many this year. I wish they would get into a war with the japanese beetles and kill each other off.

I am relieved to say that they are NO WHERE NEAR as bad this year as last.
Whew! And I like that image - the asian lady bugs battle the japanese beetles!
Sounds like an epic battle.

Tam

The south side of my white house is turning red.....they are on all sides, but worst on the south side. Thank god mine don't bite! Those biting kind are another strain I read about! They stink? I haven't experienced that yet. It's like invasion of the body snatchers......I like lady bugs, too bad I have no roses at this house for them to feed on aphids (yet). Maybe I need to put some roses out away from the house!

They're in my hayloft too. They can't hurt the horses if they're accidentally ingested can they?

Jenks - I did a little google research and it appears they are not poisonous.
Here's a link to a paper by Purdue - you need Adobe to read the full text.

http://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/PPDL/expert/Ladybugs.html

I hadn't realized that they waited 'til late winter to come into the house. Argh.
I thought I'd escaped the worst this year. We've got just a few in the house
so far.

Hi, Tammy.

I live in Metamora, IL, and the first two years my wife and I lived in our house, we were swamped by both Asian Ladybugs and Box Elder Bugs. We thought, when we saw them on the windows, that they were coming IN the windows, but of course we later found out they had already come IN through the cracks and elsewhere, and that they were actually trying to get OUT.

We'd vaccuum them up, but they'd make the vaccuum cleaner stink, and they'd just keep coming and coming and coming!

So I made some calls to local exterminators. The first place I called said that they'd charge us 60 dollars for a treatment, and that it was guaranteed for two months, and that it probably would not be very effective.

So I called a second exterminator, who said he'd charge 90 dollars, and that if we started seeing ladybugs in the house, he'd come back and do spray again at no charge.

Well, I would like you to know, Tammy, that he came and sprayed in early October, which is, around here, when the ladybugs start taking refuge in houses, and WE HAD ALMOST NO LIVE LADY BUGS IN THE HOUSE THAT YEAR, even though they were THICK outside. We found less than 10 dead ones in the house the whole season, and NO box elder bugs at all, and only a very few spiders, crickets, etc. (We live out in the country, same as you.)

We had the exterminator come out and spray again this year, and again it is working like a charm, even though we saw plenty of ladybugs and box elder bugs on the OUTSIDE of the house.

It is a BLESSING not to have the stinking, nasty things crawling on our computers, on the windows, on the ceiling, and getting killed on light bulbs, making a terrible stink.

I cannot suggest strongly enough to get an exterminator to come out and spray!

Best wishes,

Elliot

Thanks Elliot. I would be curious to hear what they sprayed.

I'll see if I can find out, Tammy. I think he won't mind telling me. In fact, maybe he is a member of some exterminators' association and can let me know of someone out there who uses the same stuff. I'll let him know you're in Barto, and the nearest larger city near to it.

Hmmm.. nearest large city is probably Allentown or Pottstown.

For whatever reason, we had barely a handful inside or out this year. Go figure.

Thanks for looking that up for me Tammy!

Last night I was flicking them off my comforter as I was snuggling in. Beasts! Right near my face. And I could hear them hitting the ceiling. One landed on my 7 year old daughter while I was blow drying her hair-she'd never had a problem with bugs before-but she flipped out and wouldn't be still after that. Everytime a piece of hair touched her she'd jump and swat!

Not too many left inside the house. Most have dropped and been swiffered up. Maybe that's why I don't smell anything? I can't get over that they don't smell like you all describe. Knock on wood. I vaccumned them off the bathroom counter this am, if my hose was longer, I'd be up in the trey and vaulted ceilings sucking them up.

Tammy, my exterminator phoned me to tell me that the stuff he sprays at my house that keeps ladybugs out or dead is called "Tempo." You can phone around to see if there are any exterminators in your area who use that stuff. It gets sprayed both inside and outside the house.