For all my life, the ladybug has had the image of one of the "good bugs"; a princess of insects. We all played with them as kids and have seen them used in cartoons, advertising and even on toys and wallpaper for kids. What a joyous bug and what a great reputation they have. Ah. There was even a nursery rhyme.
Ladybug ladybug fly away home,
Your house in on fire and your children are gone,
All except one and that's little Ann,
For she crept under the frying pan.
Well, I don't have the same joyous feeling about them these days. Like "little Ann" in the nursery rhyme, they have crept under the frying pan, behind the books, in every nook and cranny. Not just a few, but rather dozens and dozens.
So what happened? How did these lovable little creatures become such a nuisance?
Well, you may have heard the word in the news for quite some time: immigration. In this case, they didn't pack their little suitcases and sneak across a border. No, we invited them.
One of the finer qualities of ladybugs is their voracious appetites for garden pests such as aphids. Many gardeners and other people looking for an alternative to chemicals to control pest in their flowering plants and gardens, turned to the ladybug. People actually farmed them: grew them in captivity to sell to their fellow ladybug lovers. Ah, but this was "our" ladybug. The cute little two spot ladybugs and the seven spotted ladybug. There is even a black version with two red spots that is called the twice stabbed ladybugs. Cherished by gardeners everywhere.
But then came that interloper, the uninvited immigrant, the Asian ladybug. Well, uninvited may not be the correct word for some were imported with the purpose of being sold as natural/organic pest control for gardens and flowers. Some did come by hitchhiking on imported plants and goods, but many were brought here on purpose. As a matter of fact, the USDA had a program for importing them for many years. Yes, our government did it. More strange immigration policies. For the Asian ladybug is a prolific breeder and due to it's somewhat toxic nature, it has few natural enemies here in the U.S. They were imported with the expectation that they would be a very beneficial due to feeding on insect pests. Unfortunately, as almost always, these non-native ladybugs had some unexpected negative impacts. In particular, they swarm in huge numbers; they have a very nasty smell; they actually bite if handled; and they are a real problem with grapes and the wine industry. They are collected with ripe grapes and end up in the vats of the liquid to make wine. Their smell and terrible taste makes the wine have a less than pleasant taste.
So now, instead of the nice little ladybugs that we grew up with, we have these hoards of smelly immigrants. When I say "hoards" I am not exaggerating. With colder weather, they begin looking for places to spend the winter and appear in incredible numbers.
As for getting rid of them, you are in for a battle. Outside the house, you may as well give up now. Inside, you need to make sure that you have sealed all your doors and windows. They can crawl through very small cracks and will leave a pheromone trails so others can follow them in.
You can also spray around the doors and windows with insect repellent but that is a temporary solution that is not tremendously effective. If you would like some information about possible chemicals to use for their control, check out this link. Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet: Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle (Sections: Outside the Home/Inside the Home).
Does anyone else find it ironic that we imported these ladybugs to control plant pests in a natural way and now we are trying to find chemicals to control the ladybugs?
Once they are in the house, the best way to control them is with a vacuum cleaner. This time of year, I keep my vacuum handy with a length of pantyhose partially stuck down the hose to "catch" them and prevent them from getting inside the vacuum. If you just collect them in the bag or container, you will soon get an odor like you won't believe.
And to think of the such pleasant thoughts we all used to have when we saw a ladybug. Darn immigrants. :-)
Michael is a former biologist and Texas Master Naturalist. Originally from Newsome, Texas (Between Pittsburg and Winnsboro), educated in Dallas & Garland schools, then off to the University of Texas system where he received a degree in biology and worked as a biologist with the University of Texas system. After many years away from nature and biology, he relocated to the banks of Lake O' the Pines where he has been rediscovering the joys of nature. He is somewhat surprised that he has become a birder. Most of his interest in nature was centered around reptiles. Perhaps just like birds evolved from reptiles starting in the late Jurassic, he has begun his own evolution. During his formal education, his interests in biology/nature grew to include community ecology and population studies, all with a binding of evolutionary processes. He liked birds, but they were secondary at best. All at once he finds them fascinating.
Comments
Michael, I love this! Such good information - thank you!