Lady Bugs

[PA_MIKE]

My house is getting over run by Lady Bugs. HELP!!!!!!!!! How can I get rid of them? Why do they like my house?

[Tom in TN]

Mike,

Here in Tennessee we get overrun by some nasty little beetles that look like ladybugs. They bite and they stink. I get some insecticide from my local farmer's co-op that is called "Demon". It is a powder that is mixed with water and applied using a pump sprayer. I only use it outdoors, but it really knocks them dead in a hurry. My wife vacuums the ones that get inside the house, but has to dispose of the bag from the vacuum cleaner as soon as she's done because of the foul odor that the beetles give off.

We have hundreds of them around the house about twice a year. I don't know if what you're experiencing is the same thing, but they are really nasty bugs.

Good luck,

Tom in TN

[FreightTrain]

lady bugs out the wazoo here too! arent they good to have around?

They are not ladybugs, but an insect introduced to control aphids if I remember correctly. They were terrible here for a few years but gradually have lessened. I haven't heard of anyone having them around here this year.

[baldylocks]

Shop-vac is all we could find to really get rid of them...we were covered up with them last year and not a single one this year...

[beorning]

They're probably asian lady beetles:

http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef416.asp

This article says they don't harm humans, but I've had them bite me, and it hurts.
We vacuum them, but it isn't terribly effective. For every one you can see there are probably 20 in the walls or hiding elsewhere.

an airtight house seems to be the only really effective solution. I doubt our 125 year old place will ever fit that bill, so we'll just keep vacuuming. Another fine example of why importing species from other parts of the world to solve problems often ends up creating larger problems in the long run.

[PA_MIKE]

Thanks for the link. It looks like I am SOL

[beorning]

On the bright side, you only have to put up with them coming in in the fall, and leaving in the spring. Sigh...

[Wisconsin Ann]

It's not all bad news. They don't live long inside (or out, for that matter) and they can't breed inside, so at least you won't have little ones hatching all winter They swarm once in the fall, get into everything, nothing eats them so they get bigger swarms, and they die. You just have to last out the week or so they're around

Actually, I don't know how their cycle goes in the south where it doesn't freeze early.

[Pony]

The in-laws had them at their place in WI. The darned bugs covered the outside wall, and they had to vacuum like crazy, but that wasn't the half of it.

When Nick went down to the space under the kitchen to work on the plumbing, the walls of the crawl space were, well, CRAWLING with asian beetles, a couple of inches thick. They were feeding on each other, like something out of a cross between Hitchcock and King. <shudder>

The in-laws decided to bug bomb the place. It's so old and drafty, and they saw it as the only way to be rid of the insects. They were EVERYWHERE: in the windows (thick on the sills), the furniture, counters, every available surface. Vacuuming didn't cut it at all.

Now I have the heebie-jeebies, and my skin is crawling just thinking of it. I almost hate those things more than mice.

Almost. I REALLY hate mice.

Pony!

[Michael W. Smith]

Not that this will relieve you, but they seem to go in cycles. Last year we had lots of them, but my in-laws a half hour drive away didn't. Now this year, we have very few, and the in-laws are in-undated.

Since they eat aphids so are actually a "good" bug, I've been known to put a piece of panty hose over the end of the vacuum cleaner, suck up the ones I can find, and throw them back outside.

Since it is getting cooler, they are searching for a place to hibernate during the winter - so they are looking for (and finding) places to get inside your house. As has been said, unless you have a newer airtight house, your pretty much out of luck.

Once we get a couple of cold days, they aren't around much.

(Now, if only you had a greenhouse filled with plants, they could stay there all winter and feast on the aphids!)

[Rita]

We are usually swamped with them. Can't hang clothes or sit on the porch without them getting in your hair etc. I guess due to the severe drought we are in we have not had a one (knock on wood). We are getting rain today so we'll see if this brings them on.

[Ernie]

We're swamped here in NW Illinois. We have an older farmhouse so they get in everywhere. Ah well. As far as bug infestations go, it's better than roaches or spiders.

And at least I don't have any aphid problems.

[GoatsRus]

In TN they are the asian beetles. We get them twice a year. Don't mind them, except when they get in the house. We went to the co-op and they have a dairy spray that is supposedly not harmful to pets or humans and can be used indoors. Can't remember the name off hand (white can - blue lettering). It's the only thing I found that will kill them inside of the house. I think there were other posts on here last year about the same thing.

[stormwalker]

Sweep them up and put them in your barn. They're trying to find a hidey hole for the winter.
I've got millions of them,also praying mantis,spiders and predatory wasps.
I didn't have to spray for aphids or any other pest this year.
I love anybody who thinks bugs are a good meal.

[BaronsMom]

Yes, they are Multi-colored Asian Ladybird Beetles - and still a type of ladybug. So when it is out in the fields eating aphids it is doing "good things" - just a real nuisance around homes in fall.

They must go through cycles - they were awful here for about 3 years in a row - couldn't even go outside (and yes, they do nip). But, now rarely see any. Probably the ebb and flow of predators and prey. When lots of prey (for the ladybugs - aphids), lots of predators. When prey decreases, so do the predators.

If you use a vaccum it can get pretty smelly since they leave an odor when crushed or disturbed. There's a tips near the bottom of the following link on how to deal with the lady bugs and adapt your vaccum so you don't end up with it stinking...

http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resour...dyBeetle.shtml

[Marilyn]

Someone on this forum had good luck last year by soaking cotton balls with camphor oil and placing them in the corners of his doors and windows. I'm going to give that a shot when they show up this year --- so far only one. I wonder if this could be an off-year for us. They have been extremely dependable for the last eight years,though.

[pheasantplucker]

My cabin got infested with those buggers last summer. Couldn't open the front door without 50 of them flying in...not exaggerating. Killed them inside the house (by hand) constantly...finally killed the last one (knock on wood) about March. Didn't get them this year (knock again). They bite, dive for your face...and they really do have BO.

[veme]

I got 'em too I've heard a Japanese beetle trap in the house works but I have no personal experience.
I think we have the USDA to thank for the little devils. Kind of like starlings introduced from England ...seemed like a good idea at the time.......

Some years are definitively worse than others. I usually just suck 'em up with the vacuum cleaner.
If the vac bag gets to stinking I put a dryer sheet in it.

[hyenas]

I hate these bugs. But last year when they flooded the house 4 lizards followed them in for the winter. They really kept the "infestation" down. Admittedly I had four lizards running around, but I didn't mind them.