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Mon, Feb 11, 13 at 18:46
| We purchased an older home about a month ago, and within the last week, we've noticed a few ladybugs here and there inside the home. I've been a little excited to see each one, knowing that, when I get out in the dirt this Spring, there's more hope for my vegetables to survive if ladybugs are present. There is one problem. I'd like for these little guys to live outside and not inside my home, but I don't want these guys to freeze either. What do you do with your ladybugs when you want them to benefit your garden, but you fear they may die if brought outdoors? |
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| They congregate in SW corners, and when the sun shines they begin to stink. I never had so many that I felt I had to get rid fo them, but you could vacuum them up. I would assume that if you see some inside there are plenty more hibernating where you don't notice. So if you get rid of the ones you see, you'll probably still have plenty all around. |
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| Just think of them as paying lodgers. They'll pay their rent when the Spring comes and you open your windows. |
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| Are you sure they are "ladybugs"? There is a beetle that is very similar looking to a ladybug but they tend to eat plant leaves vs. eating other bugs. At our home on the ranch we are infested with them and have to vacuum daily to keep them cleaned up. Boxelder bugs... the same thing. I learned to put up with them by just chalking them up to country living. |
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| I beleive they are called japanese Lady beetles. These things can bite, and they stink when disturbed, also they will leave black trails along your walls and ceilings. They were released by our genius government to try and control another pest. We have been dealing with these things for years. Cant find anything to keep them out of the home or kill them. We just keep vacuuming them up and tossing them. One year they were so bad, we had been gone for a long weekend camping, and returned to a 600 sq foot room a mess. The floors were black with their bodies where they had dropped and died, and still a huge mass more on the vaulted ceilings. Sometimes in the past we would have to make a mad dash into the home or car trying to keep them off. If you happen to touch one on you, be ready for the stench. Be grateful you only have a few. After several years they have diminished somewhat. But let the weather warm some in the Fall or Winter and you be hit again. Trying cooking with these things flying around. I have to cover my pans, and clean up the mess when they boil over. They are probably not your typical friendly ladybug, but a monster in disguise. Tammy |
Here is a link that might be useful: My Blog
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| I've had like a dozen of them inside already. They have 6-8 dots on their backs. I heard they were bad bugs, but I don't know why. |
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| The pests I am referring to above, look ljust like the regular ladybugs we knew from childhood. I believe its kindof a different strain. Tammy |
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| My house has been invaded with this pest for 15 years. Memorable moments include my ill mother-in-law swallowing one that had dropped into her can of soda. The beetles seem to be attracted by certain colors with gray being highest on the list. I have transported beetles to work when I wear my gray pants. The are a nuisance! |
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| I think the pest variety has a lighter orange color than the native beneficials. |
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| These ones in particular are red in color. I have seen the cucumber type that are a little more oval in shape and more orange in color at our last home in our last garden, so I do realize the difference. These are in fact ladybugs, and thankfully, they haven't taken over yet. I do hate to see some of them die and hope the live long enough to make it outdoors to make the garden happy. |
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- Posted by milehighgirl CO USDA 5B/Sunset 2B (My Page) on Tue, Feb 19, 13 at 23:35
| This post interested me so I did a little looking. According to the Beneficial Insect Company "the convergent lady beetle (Hippodamia convergens) is most often what is sold for garden aphid and pest control, this type of lady beetle will not invade houses." I have purchased lady bugs for aphid infestations on overwintered pepper plants and they don't live long indoors at all. So I guess if they stink they are Asian Ladybeetles. |
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