Ladybugs
Ladybug
Prevent your home from being an insect haven. Ladybugs prey on aphids, mealy bugs, mites, their own eggs, and other soft–bodied insects. This makes them very beneficial insects. During the early fall ladybugs, also called Asian lady beetles, will begin to cluster around homes and buildings in large numbers as they search for protected sites to live in over the winter. You’ll often find them congregating in great numbers on the sunny southwest side of your house. Soon, you may be sharing your home with the ladybugs; sometimes thousands of them!
Here are some other protected areas for ladybugs. They’ll live under leaves, rocks, and landscaping timbers. They usually head for the dark, void areas behind walls, in attics and crawlspaces to spend their winter vacation. It’s on those sunny, warmer winter days that suddenly your home, especially around windows and doors, becomes inundated with ladybugs.
Ladybugs are a nuisance, can bite, emit an odor, and can stain some surfaces with a yellow secretion they produce. Some people also have asthmatic reactions and are allergic to their shed skins. Once inside, it is easier to remove them by vacuuming. After they’re vacuumed, remove the vacuum bag, seal it tight with a heavy trash bag and put it in a garbage can that has a tightly sealed lid. Be sure to move the container away from your home.
Various colors of Ladybugs
Sealing cracks and crevices is a permanent way to prevent them from entering your home. Pay special attention to areas such as cracks around windows, doors, soffits, fascia boards, utility conduit openings, etc. Door sweeps and weather stripping can close gaps below doorways and other entry points.
Check the outside of your home for cracks and crevices that may allow easy entry. They only need a one-eighth inch opening to work their way inside.
We would suggest not attempting to kill the ladybugs if they are already in the wall voids. Why? Dead insects attract other insects. Contact Russell’s Pest Control if you had ladybugs last year or if suspect you’ll have them, again, this year. We can also make recommendations and take steps to reduce your ladybug problem. After Russell’s conducts a thorough inspection and identifies their entry points, they can also treat these areas and the exterior of your home to prevent them from coming inside. Treatments are effective when an application is applied prior to the time the ladybugs infest your home or office.
