Signup to receive email updates
Authors
Recent Posts
Blog Archives
- February 2019 (3)
- January 2019 (5)
- December 2018 (4)
- November 2018 (4)
- October 2018 (6)
- September 2018 (3)
- August 2018 (5)
- July 2018 (4)
- June 2018 (4)
- May 2018 (5)
- April 2018 (4)
- March 2018 (5)
- February 2018 (3)
- January 2018 (5)
- December 2017 (5)
- November 2017 (3)
- October 2017 (5)
- September 2017 (3)
- August 2017 (3)
- July 2017 (4)
- June 2017 (4)
- May 2017 (5)
- April 2017 (4)
- March 2017 (5)
- February 2017 (3)
- January 2017 (3)
- December 2016 (2)
- November 2016 (4)
- October 2016 (3)
- September 2016 (5)
- August 2016 (4)
- July 2016 (3)
- June 2016 (6)
- May 2016 (3)
- April 2016 (3)
- March 2016 (3)
- February 2016 (1)
- January 2016 (4)
- December 2015 (6)
- October 2015 (3)
- September 2015 (4)
- August 2015 (2)
- July 2015 (4)
- June 2015 (5)
- May 2015 (5)
- April 2015 (5)
- March 2015 (6)
- February 2015 (6)
- January 2015 (8)
- January 2008 (1)
203 Total Posts
follow our RSS feed

Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Lady Beetle Invasion
Just this past week I began to notice an increase in the number of Asian lady beetles flying about. Each fall, as temperatures diminish and day length gets shorter, these insects begin to accumulate around larger buildings. They're getting ready to go into their winter habitat, which in their native Asia, is sheltered areas along a mountain side. It's hard to find very many mountain sides in western IL, so they're seeking out the closest alternative, larger buildings.
Lady beetles are predators. Their favorite food is aphids. The years we have high soybean aphid populations are the years in which Asian lady beetle populations are huge as well. Since we didn't have unusually high aphid populations this year, it's doubtful if lady beetle populations will be very high but they are somewhat numerous in some locations.
Since these insects overwinter as adult beetles, they seek protected areas and overwinter in large numbers, clustered together. Large two story houses are the closest we come to mountains, and those seem to be preferred sites. It seems like they're attracted to white colored houses, not sure why. I do know that old farm houses seem to have more trouble keeping the beetles out of the house as opposed to modern houses. This is simply because there are more cracks and crevices in older homes. Most newer homes are much tighter, making accessibility more difficult.
Once inside the home, the beetles will congregate in out of the way areas (wall voids, attics, etc.) where they will spend the winter. Sometimes individuals will appear throughout the winter, but for the most part, they will remain in these out of the way places until temperatures increase next spring, then they will be looking for a way out of the house.
Lady beetles can bite if irritated, and they can cause a stain that's hard to remove from walls. Best bet is to leave them alone, or if they're in small numbers in your home, gather them up by hand and throw them outdoors. Caulk cracks and crevices to keep them out of the house. If numbers become too large inside to remove by hand, consider using a vacuum cleaner. Place some nylon hose in the vacuum tube to catch the beetles and after you've completed the sweeping, empty the bag of beetles outdoors (preferably not near your home). Remember that lady beetles are excellent predators of many insects that can cause damage to plants. They are good guys, so lets try and keep as many as we can.