Yikes - Ladybugs!

[Dem Agog]

Okay I keep spotting ladybugs in the house. They aren't in swarms or anything. But I've seen three this morning. No bugs or anything anywhere else.

Isn't it bad luck or something to kill a ladybug? Or is that just for crickets? Why do we have so many ladybugs!?

[Worst Username Ever]

1. Those aren't ladybugs

They are asian beetles, used for farming, but they've sort of taken over. Kill away (I always cart them outside and let them go, though). They are trying to find a warm place for the winter.

[tridim]

2. Ladybugs are good

They seek out and eat the bad guys. If you have indoor plants you want ladybugs there too.

[skygazer]

3. I'm not sure about the bad luck

I don't know how much worse our luck could get after last Tuesday. A friend of mine had ladybugs in his house last spring. They were all over the windows - his kids would catch them and put them outside. I have no idea why they were there or how to get rid of them. I just find it interesting that you have them too - until he had them, I'd never known anyone to have a problem with them.

[Mrs. Venation]

4. Ladybugs Eat Aphids

They also eat other pests that can kill or wound plants. They stink to high heavens if you squish them, so don't do that. Ladybugs hibernate during the winter; they're just looking for a comfy spot to sleep.

If you don't want them in your house, please put them outside and don't kill them. They are harmless to humans and other animals.

[Bjornsdotter]

5. Asian beetles

They are Asian Beetles and they bite....kill them or throw them outside.

We've had tons of them and Box Elders here...if they are outside trying to get under your siding spray them with a mixture of Dawn and water...it will kill them.

Cheers,
Kim :toast:

[kslib]

6. I thought I was the only one

who knew about the dishsoap thing! Oh, and here in Kansas, most people call Box Elders (pop bugs, as I used to call them) democrats. So, around the office, you hear lots of people asking how to kill the swarms of democrats. :crazy:

[no name no slogan]

11. Thanks for the tip!

We've got them (and boxelder bugs) all over the place this fall. We also have two indoor cats, and they usually do a pretty good job of eliminating the indoor bug problem.

I've never heard of that solution for getting rid of them, though. Cool! :D

[otohara]

13. Ladybugs - Box Elders Not The Same

Box Elders come from a tree of the same name - their goal is to get into your home, then they die. We had a Box Elder tree and cut it down because of those damn bugs. They have a cycle, some years are worse than others.

[Francesca]

7. Believe it or not I buy ladybugs for my plants

You can also purchase a number of other beneficial insects on line to help with plant infestations.. My husband was less than thrilled when i ordered 1000 of them and released them on my houseplants to deal with an aphid infestation... for weeks they were coming out of our sleeves, all over our Dachshund, in the drawers.... I just got fed up with the aphids......

[Dem Agog]

8. Yikes!

I'm highly bug-phobic. My husband makes fun of me because I get absolutely paralyzed at the sight of a spider. I'm serious. I wouldn't sit on our living room couch for weeks after finding a spider in the cushions.

I found a long squiggly insect on our kitchen floor last week. I screamed like a girl (naturally), stomped on it repeatedly and sucked it up with the Dust Buster. Then I made my husband empty the D.B.

I couldn't cope with bugs crawling on me.. Aphids either! Currently we have no houseplants (gave them all away when we moved).

Yeah, I wouldn't do well on Fear Factor.

[Francesca]

10. when it comes to spiders am the same way

I ABSOLUTELY can not deal with spiders...

[bloom]

9. We haven't had too many this year...

less than a couple dozen inside.

We lived in a cabin a few years ago (that seemed pretty tight) - where we got thousands of them inside.

Now we spray some kind of preventive thing.


I hadn't heard about the Dawn remedy.

[Danmel]

12. Hordes of lady bug look a likes

We had a huge horde of ladybug look a likes all over one side of our house the year before last- There must have been 25,000 of them- a solid wall of bugs covering the outside of the house. IT was way way freaky. My daughter was about 11 at the time and she said "You know mom, when there's one of them they're cute, but when there are a million of them, they're scary!" I called the Terminix people ( we've had those too!) and they said they'd fly away home...and sure enough they did! I'd feel guilty killing 25,000 of anything (but termites and carpenter ants) so I'm glad they left on their own accord!