Ladybug Infestation!

[mightymoo]

What the heck is up with the ladybugs!?! Last night, we noticed a ton of them in our office - in 3 or 4 clumps, probably a dozen in all. We figured they came through the a/c unit which we hadn't taken out of the wall yet. We took that out. Then today I noticed a ton crawling on our storm door.

And tonight, DH had to take care of two that found their way into our living room and 3 more in the office again. ARG!

I hate bugs, no matter how adorably spotted they are!

[reducereuserecycle]

are they really lady bugs or are they those things that look like lady bugs? lady bugs are red and the other things are more of a burnt orange color. a friend told me that those other things were released to feed wild turkey and they have taken over!!! i've never had them in my home but have several friends who have and nothing gets rid of them other than manually removing them by hand or with a vacuum attachment. Good Luck!

[mightymoo]

Originally Posted by reducereuserecycle

are they really lady bugs or are they those things that look like lady bugs? lady bugs are red and the other things are more of a burnt orange color. a friend told me that those other things were released to feed wild turkey and they have taken over!!! i've never had them in my home but have several friends who have and nothing gets rid of them other than manually removing them by hand or with a vacuum attachment. Good Luck!

Huh, I don't know, there are both - some are very red, some are more orange. Looks from googling like maybe the asian ladybug which tends to invade homes more frequently than the native version, but it seems like they can be both colors: http://www.dpughphoto.com/beetles.htm

I just wish I knew how they were getting in, I would fix it, kwim? We figured though they could have been in the a/c unit, which we just removed from the window and put on the table, or just hiding from yesterday.

[sphinxie]

There have been a ton around here too. I think it's mating season, or something like that. My college had a lot of them in the library once a year, and some would get in the weirdest places. They'll go away on their own.

[reducereuserecycle]

yeah, think the asian ones were introduced to feed the wild turkey. it seems like the wild turkey aren't eating enough i hope you can get rid of them soon.

[MissMommyNiceNice]

We had this when we first moved into our house. Did you know that ladybeetles don't die in the winter like a lot of bugs? They all congregate together in a space and kinda hang out/hibernate all together in a tight little space.

Does your house have a light/white colored south facing wall? THat's a sure signe they'll come to your house, cause it's a warm bright place to stay. Also, if you have a lot of heavy or dense foliage around you will have more. We had so much english ivy around, and removing it really helped.

They'll come in, no matter what. We had the entire house sealed, but they still got in. There are tiny little bug sized holes everywhere you can't see. We call our bathroom windowsill the ladybug graveyard.

I think they are living in the old stove flume hole, but I'll let them have it for now. I'll be getting a great new stove soon enough, and then it's curtains, I tells ya'!

We thought they might be the wood beetles, which look very similar to the lady beetle, but they are actually native lady beetles, which can vary from bright red to burnt orange.

My advice: wait it out. They'll drowned themselves in your waterglasses, and you'll have to empty the light fixtures in the spring. But think about it this way: it could be worse! It could be spiders, or scorpians, or biting ants, or bats, or termites, or thousand leggers, or, well, you get my drift!

[mossimo12]

Yup, like MissMommyNiceNice said they come in to hibernate. In our last house we would get them every fall. They were *all* over the south facing well. They would get in mostly through the craks around the doors and windows. Everyday we would vaccum them up and during the height of the invasion every year we would vaccum up over 500/day. (watch out they are stinky when vaccumed) From what I read the only way to stop them every year is to use some heavy pestisides all over the inside and outside of your house. We decided we liked the ladybugs more than the pestiside idea. The good news is it only lasted a week or two (seems like forever at the time!) and they are not posinus (unless you eat about 500 at a sitting!)


Sarah

[amj'smommy]

I noticed your in Massachusetts.... we're just outside of Worcester and I noticed TONS of them yesterday outside our window.... some even made it inside. I guess it could be worse though (bees etc. ) My dd thinks it's GREAT as she LOVES ladybugs.