How do I STOP the "LADYBUGS"?

Question

I live in Kentucky and a few years ago the Government funded the release of Ladybug type bugs but they are not real ladybugs just look alot like them, anyway they got out of hand and now before winter they want to live on our houses, right now there is seriously at least 1 million bugs in and around my house. How can they be stopped? there is 50 in my bed, a thousand on my walls, a hundred in my car and I get about 20 on me just by walking outside!

To make things worse my mom is allergic to the bugs, she went to the agriculture office that released these bugs and asked how we can get rid of them and they denied releasing the bugs, my uncle even seen them posting these boxes on nearby trees that the bugs were originally released from.

Does anyone know what we can do to stop them? Besides spraying poison all over the place?

Answer 1

I"m originally from W.V,so I know exactly what you are talking about. The government was trying to feed the wild turkey, but the turkey's won't eat them!! What I did was, kept my vacuum hooked up with the hose attachment on it. When I saw them I vacuumed them up. Their trying to get in your house for the winter. You know they can bite also, I didn't believe it until I got bit with one. If you don't want to spray just vacuum them. The best time do do this is at night time. They gather around the light fixture. Good Luck!!!

Answer 2

Vacuume - will catch those you can see and is especially good at sucking up large numbers. However be warned - when the vacuume is shut off these buggers have been known to crawl out - so unless you change the bag outside after each use, you'll merely be concentrating them. A good tip is to use a shop vac with some dry ice in the cannister - they get sucked up, and die a quick death thanks to the cold CO2. Just in case - remember to empty the cannister outside.

Traps - you should have little problem finding some kind of trap that'll attract them. Try perhaps a bee and wasp trap baited with something sugary. Soda or beer works as a good bait. The hornet traps I had set away from my door were always full of these ladybugs in the fall!

Fabric softener sheets - mentioned already, but I've heard this works too.

Safe fumigation - find a potporrie dish, or make your own by suspending a metal bottlecap over a candle or can of sterno. Then place cayanne pepper in the dish and light the candle underneath! Insects hate the smell of the burning pepper.

Poison - While I agree, spraying poison around the inside of your house is never a good idea - there are long lasting exterior sprays you can use. Look for something that will leave a 30 day or longer residue - and spray the foundation of your house, especially covering any nooks or crannies where they might be coming in. They pick up the poison as they walk across it. Unfortunately this could lead to many dead ladybugs around the inside of your house - but at least they won't bite that way!

Check yourself before entering your home. Last time I had this same problem, I think at least a few came in on me! They land on your clothes, and often you don't even notice the passenger until they crawl onto exposed skin.

As for environmentalists that want these things to live - THEY DON'T BELONG HERE! Because they are so good at outcompeteing other insects - they are potentially contributing to the loss of native ladybugs which aren't naturally as populous or as pesky as their asian counterparts!

Answer 3

Spraying poison is your only option I think. I spray around my windows and doors this time of year. Ortho makes a liquid that works really well. When I don't spray, I get about 150 a day in my kitchen and it drives me crazy to see them walking across the counter where I prepare food.
You can't squish them either because they leave an orange stain behind and you CAN'T get it off!!! They are Asian beetles by the way.
I either use duck tape to remove them from walls and cabinets so they don't leave a stain or a vacuum if there are too many for a piece of duck tape.
These things really are a bother! So smart of some "don't upset the ecosystem' environmentalist moron to bring them to the states. Birds don't eat them because of the oil they have on them (which is what causes the stain when you squish them) and spiders don't touch them (I see them intact in webs just hanging there) so they have NO natural predator here in the states.
Sorry to hear you've got so many there but just to give you a scope on how far they've gotten, I live in Wisconsin.
I'm at work right now and I counted no less than 230 on the wall of the hangar outside. It's crazy man! CRAAAAAAZZZZYYYYYY!!!!
Try and have a good day regardless of the beatles!

Jonny- this is rediculous but true none the less. I have seen pictures of them completely covering the south side of a two story house in Milwaukee. YUCK!!!

Answer 4

The beetle is probably the multicolored Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis). While some farmers, greenhouses and government agencies have been releasing these insects since about 1916, it wasn't until 1988 in Louisiana that anyone detected any kind of problem with the beetles. Since that time, they have become minor pests in several areas as thousands or even millions of the beetles move into people's homes to overwinter. Prior to that time, they rarely survived in sufficient numbers to become a problem. Global climate change may play a role in this shift from purely beneficial biological control agent to sometimes annoying pest.

So the beetles may not have been introduced that recently by your local government agency. They may have been around for decades in low numbers, and it is only now they have built up sufficient populations to become a problem. They could also have come from nearby tree nurseries or even shipping/transportation yards where the beetles have been transported from other parts of the country or even abroad.

The most effective control against home invasion by these beetles is prevention. Sealing up cracks, crevices and holes with caulking prior to their search for overwintering sites can help keep them out of your home in the future. But that doesn't help you now.

Vacuuming the beetles is very effective, and can take care of large numbers of them quickly, and is generally more effective than spraying chemicals. However, the act of sucking the beetles up with a vacuum can agitate the beetles and they will begin exuding their yellowish defensive chemicals. It is this exudation that people with allergies to the beetle react to, and so the vacuuming may send particles of the chemicals throughout the house. So unless you have a sealed unit vacuum, it may not be an appropriate choice for control in your situation.

Sticky traps and glue boards placed in areas where the beetles seem to congregate, along baseboards, and on window sills can also be an effective control measure. If the paper fills with dead beetles, simply replace the traps with a fresh one. Most Home & Garden centres should sell some sort of glue trap (i.e. fly paper) for pest control. This is a cheap and safe method, but not terribly sightly.

Another possibility is a light trap. The beetles are attracted to light, and this can be used to trap them once they are in your home.

The USDA has a plan for a light trap designed specifically for these pests. It is not patented, and can be built by anyone. The plans are here: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/lbeetle/001030.trap.pdf

Good luck.

Answer 5

Hey I'm getting those darn things before every winter too. But only in my new home (which is 30 yrs old) I never had these in my old house which was only 5 yrs old. I really think the age has something to do with it. Old wood they like?...i dunnno.
And they only seem to want to be in my baby's room and kitchen. I live in IL right next to a cornfield.. could be agricultural too.

We had a Praying Mantis that loved to eat those things. Praying Mantis's are cool... but then you'd have to have a lot of big strange bugs all over the house.

...And then what would get rid of all the praying mantis's?

See how this bug "control" started!

Answer 6

Ladybug Black Light Trap

Answer 7

'Never Stop' by the Stones, actually. The song is an alternative version of 'Start Me Up'. I like it a lot more, it's dirtier and less polished. Ain't that what the Stones are all about? Search it up on youtube, you'll like it. BQ: Stones: At the moment 'Dancing in the Light' of the remaster of Exile and 'the Last Time' and their Robert Johnson cover of 'Love in Vain'

Answer 8

vacuums work wonders for the one's that make it in the house, as for the one's outside I'm not sure...if you could tell me the name of the bug I might be able to help.

I found this info online...it's about the asian ladybird, which is most likely what you have, they have been released to control the bugs that eat plants in agricultural areas.

Each fall, my mountain cabin in West Virginia is invaded by ladybugs looking for a place to spend the winter. Despite all efforts to seal the house—I have caulked every crack I can find: On, around, and under the cabin; bought new Pella windows and storm doors; and put screens over the flues and vents! They still find their way in, big time. (I vacuum them up several times a day and when I am away for a few days, there are so many they look like gravel on the floor near the windows.) Is there anything I can do to the outside of the house to retard them and discourage their seeking entry? When they swarm on a warm day after a cold snap, the outside of the house is literally covered with the crawling critters. I want a very nasty chemical that I can spray all over the outside that will last for three or four months! Thanks,
---Richard in Potomac, MD

A. When we discussed this issue with Bug Doctor Linda G last year, she mentioned that the Ladies often seek out the “Alpha” house in an area—the one with the tallest or brightest colored South-facing façade. I suggest that be you, Richie.

We don’t do “nasty chemicals”, but we bet that one of them garlic-based mosquito repellant sprays (designed to be sprayed in back yards to repel the beasts), like Garlic Barrier or Mosquito Barrier would make the side of your cabin just as unattractive as any toxin. Garlic is one of the best-known all-around insect repellants, and thanks to these sprays, it’s probably the most available one—at least in the summertime.

You’ll find several different brands on store shelves during the blood-sucking season, but alas, they have almost certainly been displaced by drunken snowmen and dancing reindeer. But they’re still around online—just search the names and you’ll find lots of suppliers. Buy the one with the highest concentration of garlic oil (or ease of use) and soak the South-facing side of the cabin. NEXT year, start spraying mid-October or about two weeks before you generally see large numbers show up. It’ll keep them away as well as anything. But unlike your request for terrible toxins, it won’t raise your risk of cancer or early-onset Parkinson’s. Sorry—you can always breathe deeply at the gas pump if you feel the need.

Oh, and since I wrote that article last year, I’ve discovered two cool traps for the ones that do get inside. Here’s an Ohio State University Bulletin describing one you can make yourself: www.ipm.osu.edu/lady/blt1.htm; and here’s a high tech trap you can buy ready made from “Biocare” that captures them alive—or dead if you fill the bottom with water (Please don’t!): http://www.biconet.com/traps/asianTrap.html.

All ladybug traps are based on the fact that the ladies are attracted to light, so place the traps in a room, turn them on, and turn off all the other lights.

Answer 9

This actually reminded me of a funny story. There was a ladybug problem a few years ago in Toronto. They released them to get rid of these tiny flies that were infesting the air. It never got as bad as what you described but one day I was about to get onto a bus and one flew right down my shirt into my bra. Now, i didn't want to miss my bus, so i got on, but the whole time i was fidgeting with my boobs because i could feel it crawling around in my bra. I'm sure people noticed and they must of though i was weird. It was sooooooo gross!

Good Luck! Hope you find an answer to your problem

Answer 10

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