Argghhhh....Ladybugs!!!

All summer while my plants were being devoured by Aphids, there wasn't a ladybug to be found.

Now? There's a few thousand hanging out at my back door just waiting for it to open so they can come pouring in. Is anybody else suffering from this plague????

I haven't seen any yet, but if they hibernate above ground we should have a milder winter, and if they go for deeper cover, the winter will be colder. I saw a TV show with them frozen in a glob of ice, and flying off as the ice melted.

Ask them what took so long!

I had an Alfred Hitchcock moment because of those darn things! This is my bathroom...I was just tinkling away and happened to look up and this is what I was facing.

At least they were LADYbugs.

We;ve got them all over the front door and garage door over here. I've been told that they are "pumpkin beetles?????".
This is the first time I've seen them here. My sisters in Maine have a lot of them every fall and they stink when squashed....
Hopefully they will stay around for spring's aphid rush...
Tamberlin

I once read they would bring you luck if you found them in your house so im not squishing them!

This message was edited Oct 18, 2007 6:17 PM

I have a white house and they hang out by the doors waiting for us. I agree. What a horrible plague! We are just getting past the box elder bug fiasco, flies were before that and pretty much during too. I love the country, but this is one of the downfalls.

As for the bathroom appearance, maybe they are into DG too and just wanted to see your bloomers!

yup...and they get inside and hang out in the windows...then the cats have to chase them down....and I hear the crash of potted plants all night long....

Best way to deal with these in the house is to use the hose of your vacuum to suck them up. If it is a vac with a bag, tape the hole on the bag shut and pitch. Empty outside if it is one of the plastic collectors. They usually only stay around for a couple of weeks.

The cat can't be bothered, one of my dogs on the otherhand snaps at bees, fly's, and ladybugs. I do hose them when they get to the point of invasion, as in the bathroom.....they have already been sucked up and thrown out!

What is really gross is finding them in the basement in the winter, most dead, some still kicking. Yuk!

If they find my basement...the fish will likely eat them....

My parents get those bad. They aren't even the true ladybugs - they are the Asian ladybird beetles. they have to vacuum them up quite often.

Related to the LBJ beetles.

I love ladybugs ... smell or not. They have full rein of our house, only because I can't find an effective way to ask them to leave. But, Taelar loves chasing them down and letting them out the door on her way to school in the morning.