!#@*%$!(*#@ ladybugs!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

A few years ago, some farmers or the DNR introduced a bunch of ladybugs to, I don't know, eat some kind of pest or something.

Now the damn things are everyplace! On a warm day in the fall, they will literally swarm on walls trying to find a warm place to stay before it gets cold.

They are all over the place! In the living room, in the kitchen, in my room, flitting around and clacking off the walls and ceiling. I kill them and even more come.

I used to think of ladybugs as neat little insects. Now they're about the biggest pain the butt.

[XCashier]

Ladybugs eat aphids, nasty little bugs that destroy roses and other plants. And ladybugs are darned cute, IMHO.

However, this does sound like "too much of a good thing". I can imagine how annoying it is having to constantly pick them off your clothes or out of your food. Window and door screens don't keep them out?

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

No. They must be crawling into cracks in the foundation or siding. Plus if your open a dorr I imagine they may be quick enough to come inside.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Ladybugs signal to other ladybugs if they find a nice place to overwinter. Hence the crowd.

I used to live in this rotting trailer on the other end of town when I was just starting out. Ladybugs were getting into a crack in the screen and hanging out in my bathroom when the weather was cold. Being an avid gardener and nature nut, I let them.

Years later, I rented the place out to a friend. First cold night I get a phone call: "Uh....listen, this is so weird, but the bathroom is FULL of ladybugs!"

Me: Oh, crap. I forgot about that.

Renter: What do you do about it?

Me: Nothing. I like them. (Renter was trying to learn to garden, and since we are not talking a huge swarm, I talked him into making friends with them. :lol:

Now I live in a house and they overwinter in my deck umbrella. I opened that up one warm afternoon in winter and about a hundred of them showered down all over me. They were in my hair, and in my clothes. But again, they are very beneficial, so I just gently shook them off.

[Binky]

I think I would rather lady bugs to spiders ;)

[NightWolf]

I don't think these are actually Lady Bugs. These have more of an orange tint to their shells instead of the nice Red ones. I remember hearing about a drop of some sort of Japanese Beetle to help eliminate pests that were killing off trees. (at least I think thats what it was)

Regardless, they are a huge pest, and we have them in our house as well. Don't sqish em on something white...the little buggers tend to leave a nice orange stain that can sometimes be tricky to remove.

[Ljt09863]

and try not to accidently eat one.....my fiancees father went to eat his hamburger once, and there was aladybug on it and he didn't know.... really gross i guess. probably one of the worse bugs you can eat.

[protege]

Ah ladybugs..my grandmother's most hated bug :p

Up until recently, she lived in an 1860s farmhouse. Those little bugs were *everywhere.* They were on the ceilings, inside the windows, floors, and just about everywhere else. What sucked though, was if you sat out on one of the porches, about 4 million or so little friends would be flying around you.

[lordlundar]

Now I live in a house and they overwinter in my deck umbrella. I opened that up one warm afternoon in winter and about a hundred of them showered down all over me. They were in my hair, and in my clothes. But again, they are very beneficial, so I just gently shook them off.

In my case, I would have freaked. I know they're benificial, and I do like them flying around, killing all the little nasties I don't want. But I do have a mild case of entophobia, and that many of them falling on me, catching me by suprise? The happy little "bug dance" would have been the outcome of that.:lol:

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I imagine it might have unnerved me had I not remembered as it was happening, "Aw crap, that's right. This umbrella is full of ladybugs."

Had I thought they were roaches, I'd STILL be screaming and slapping at myself.

[Erin]

I don't think these are actually Lady Bugs.

You're right. The bug is called the Asian Lady Beetle (there's another name for them here in Nebraska, but I cant remember what my parents call them)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_lady_beetle

They're really annoying, extremely difficult to get rid of, and they're worse than the regular red ladybugs.

My neighbor had an infestation a couple of years ago when she had her deck enclosed with glass. The company that enclosed her deck missed a spot when they were sealing it up...a teeny tiny hole and it allowed thousands of these little buggies into her deck. She had her daughter in law come over with a vaccuum cleaner and they tried to vacuum up the bugs to get rid of them while they were spraying them to death.

[NightWolf]

Ah yep, thats them. Thank you Erin. :D