bugs!

[HayZee518]

Every spring and fall I get a house full of ladybugs. They are a nuisance invader of my house. As much as I try to seal up every hole near the ceiling that I can find, they ALWAYS seem to find another hole. They are beneficial to the garden in eating aphids, but there are NO aphids around in the winter! How do I get rid of these orange hard shelled pests?

[kactuskid]

They're not ladybugs, though they just look like them. They're called Multi-colored Asian Lady Beetles, and they're a real pain in the backside here too, especially in the fall. They actually do alot of good cause they eat the aphids, but they are also a nuisance just cause there's sooo many of them.

The best thing you can do is to keep them outta your home, they don't actually die once in your home, they hibernate and awaken in the spring. I have them in my wood pile and when I bring in wood in the dead of winter they wake up once they're warmed up and start to fly. The stink is a fluid they give off to ward off preditors, it also stains so keeping them out of the house is vital.

Here's a few links to help you out and give you some ideas of how to deal with them. Good luck

http://www.uwex.edu/news/story.cfm/405
http://ruralroute2.com/lady_bugs.html
http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/ipm/insects/ladybeetle.htm
http://www.ipm.msu.edu/beetleFAQ.htm

[LazyPup]

Hayzee,,

Those bugs are in plague proportion here in Ohio in late fall early winter. The Ohio State University Agricultural Extension service entomology dept has numerous bulletins out on them, but basically they are saying there is no good method of dealing with them.