When the temperature starts to drop and winter is on the way, many creatures start looking for shelter from the cold.
In colder climates, many animals will spend the entire winter hibernating, and then when it warms in the spring they awaken from their sleep.
Many insects also hibernate. And one of the favorite places for them to hibernate is in your home.
One such insect is the Asian ladybug, which was imported to the U.S. in the late 1970s to eat aphids on pecan trees. Aphids feed on leaves, sucking the sweet sap out of the plants. Some people call them plant lice. Ladybugs and ladybug larva love to eat aphids.
We have ladybugs native to Georgia but they do not do a good job controlling tree-feeding aphids. They are great at controlling aphids on shrubs, flowers and vegetables. Our native ladybugs will increase in number as their food source increases.
Planting flowers will encourage more native ladybugs in the landscape, because flowers will attract the insects that ladybugs eat.
The Asian ladybugs feed on pecan aphids, reducing the need for pesticide spraying. However, this supply of inexpensive and safe aphid control is not entirely free.
In Asia, these ladybugs overwinter on rock walls. In the U.S., they enter our buildings and gather on walls and ceilings. Many find their way inside our homes. Although they do not bite, sting or eat our food, they often become a nuisance.
How do we get rid of them?
Since they are such a help, try not to kill them. Try to relocate them to the outdoors where they belong. This way they can live to eat aphids again next year.
However, picking them up is not a good idea. It stresses them and they give off a yellow liquid that can stain carpets, walls, etc.
The easiest way to dispose of ladybugs is to suck them up into a hand-held vacuum, then dump them back outside far away from the house. You can also sweep them out of the house, but be careful that the yellow fluid they secrete doesn't stain anything. If you use a regular vacuum, put the toe end of a pair of hose or knee-high stockings over the end of the vacuum hose. Hold it in place by putting a rubber band over the end of the vacuum hose and the stocking. Do not let the stocking get sucked up the vacuum hose. After the ladybugs are vacuumed up, the stocking can be emptied outside.
Once the ladybugs are removed, the next step is to prevent them from coming back into the house by caulking or otherwise sealing cracks and holes that ladybugs can enter. Seal cracks around doors with weather stripping.
If you remove ladybugs that have congregated outside your home, you also will need to remove the pheromones that they left behind by wiping down the walls where they were with soapy water. When one ladybug finds a good place to winter, it will release pheromones to bring others in.
I have done this in my home and it seems to work. When I find them on the outside walls near a door or window, I will remove them and wipe the area down with soapy water.
A final control would be to spray outside with an insecticide to kill the ladybugs before they get in. I do not recommend this because it is so much better to just gather them up and put them back outside. To kill the bugs, it is fairly easy just to vacuum them all up and dispose of the bag. If using a pesticide, read the label and follow all the precautions listed. Most of the pesticides used for ants, roaches and other indoor insects will work on ladybugs.
Try to enjoy the ladybugs. They will provide a great service to the landscape and trees by eating many aphids, and there is no need to let them ruin your house. Use these tips to send the ladybugs back to their natural home.
Charles Phillips is a retired Columbia County Extension Service agent and operates Hort Consulting. He can be reached at cphillipshort@comcast.net.
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