Asian lady beetle
Photo by Scott Bauer.
Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis
The Asian lady beetle is a common and widespread wintertime household pest across most of the United States. Large numbers of these insects invade homes during the fall and remain active over the winter, especially in late winter when temperatures warm and days get longer. Ladybugs do not feed and cannot reproduce indoors; they have not multiplied indoors although it must seem that way to homeowners who have been inundated with them.
When lady beetles stranded indoors for the winter are emerging from inside house walls, there is no control option more practical or effective than repeated vacuuming. Spraying insecticides has little or no effect. However, one alternative for homeowners unable/unwilling to pursue wintertime ladybug control via vacuuming is the use of lady beetle traps as indoor collecting devices.
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