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Lady Bug, Lady Bug... Lady Bug.| Member | Message |
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Posted: Oct/23/2007 7:29 AM PST
I see quite a few lady bugs this year. I have not experienced the invasions that a lot of people are posting about. Some people that live in the same area do talk about them though. http://www.crabcoll.com/journal/ladybug.html There is a really long article at the link. Interesting information on the ladybug. They never seemed to be a problem when I was growing up. All of a sudden, it seems there are plagues of them every fall in various places! According to the article at the link, the overpopulation is at least partially explained by the Japanese import of a more aggressive beetle. Quote: I learned that the ladybug invasion we're experiencing is not from our native ladybugs, but from a Japanese import! Since native ladybugs were not as aggressive against pests as other varieties, the US Department of Agriculture released a multicolored Asian ladybug in the eastern US beginning in 1979 (Louisiana) and 1980 (Mississippi), and continuing until at least 1982 when there were some test releases from the Beltsville, Maryland Experiment Station. In our area, rumour is that there were releases through the University of Maine about three years ago, but spokesmen there are not aware of it. However, this species has been shipped by garden supply houses as a pest-free way to control garden bugs, and there may have been releases in our area. By 1994 it was found in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida, as well as many locations throughout the Midwest and Northeast. From the response I've gotten from readers in Maine, the infestations of the Asian ladybug are fairly wide-spread. Towards the bottom of the article there is a suggestion on vacuuming them. Also, they talk about a lady-bug attractant you can purchase to capture lady bugs inside your home and put them outside. Apparently that way you can get the stragglers that are not vacuumed up. You have to get them without squishing them or stressing them or else they stain things orange or smell bad. Interestingly enough, they have been predicting a lady-bug population crash. They are expecting a cycle of overpopulation, and then some sort of natural population drop. Apparently it has not happened yet. |
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Posted: Oct/23/2007 7:39 AM PST
Here too. Attachments:  |
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Posted: Oct/23/2007 8:42 AM PST
Those little Japanese ones pinch, too! I know that for a fact. I noticed a couple on my window screen recently and they look bigger than the domestics so I was wondering if the Japanese ones were back again. Last year wasn't bad for them, but the year or two before that was awful. The domestics have holed up in my attic window frames for a long time. They never bothered anything and they really weren't that messy so I just left them alone til they flew off. |
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Posted: Oct/23/2007 8:54 AM PST
SOCK MONKEY!!! ... Ladybug. Lol. I remember sock monkies! I have not seen one is so long. This is my first sighting of a sock monkey ladybug though. I like it! |
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Posted: Oct/23/2007 9:02 AM PST
You can thank meska for that one, Evonne. She's got a thing for sock monkeys. 
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Posted: Oct/23/2007 11:54 AM PST
I know I have a cat that being driven nuts by them this year. They are all over the windows and he can see them but can't get to them. I'll be lucky if I still have curtains left by the time they all hibernate. |
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Posted: Oct/23/2007 5:25 PM PST
These Asian Lady Bugs (there's nothing lady like about them...) bite, and they leave a bite mark that itches like crazy for the next three to four days, then hurts. Just like the fire ants we had in South Florida! I was out in the yard all weekend, and had to brush quite a few off of my bare skin...no mosquitoes, just these varmints... Grrrrr. 
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Posted: Oct/23/2007 5:33 PM PST
Can we play Guess-the-Body-Part? 
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Posted: Oct/23/2007 5:43 PM PST
That would be my left arm, just above the elbow...don't mind the moles, I play connect the dots with 'em! Had to wear short sleeves all day Monday so it wouldn't itch just from the fabric brushing. High temp was only 55 and it rained almost all day. Not much fun, actually.  PS Sweetle check PMs |
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Posted: Oct/24/2007 12:32 AM PST
Vampire lady bugs!!! Who would have thought such pretty & useful bugs could turn feral . Hope they don't reach our shores, the ones that are here are very gentle, except if you happen to be an aphid . I learn something new on this forum everyday .
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