Invasion of the ladybugs
by
Mike Brookins
Posted: 10.15.2010 at 5:59 AM
Get ready for an attack of insects in the coming weeks. As nights get colder ladybugs will be looking for a nice warm place to winter, and it’s your home! With winter being so long, snowy and cold around Central New York, who can blame them? In the past I found a nice mild, sunny day must trigger them into motion. Then all at once they begin to flock like fruit flies on a rotting banana, onto the side of houses. The bugs climb through the smallest of cracks in doorways and window sills. And don’t you dare leave a door open for too long on these days, or you’ll be looking at ladybugs on you vaulted ceilings. Just like my morning room was for a couple of weeks last fall until they fell down.
Here in New York State, we love ladybugs so much that they are our state’s official insect. It was adopted back in 1989. Ladybugs do some great work for farmers. The bugs control other tiny insect pests, called aphids, by eating them. Here is a great article with some interesting facts about ladybugs.
As cute as ladybugs may be, you might want to check out these tips on battling their household attacks. According to Earthgauge.net, first you will want to “Locate entry points and seal up cracks and crevices to help reduce their numbers indoors. Window screens and doors should be tight-fitting.” You can find more tips and the rest of their article on how to ladybug proof you house here.
You can also help scientists studying the status of native ladybugs species – across North America, ladybug species distribution is changing. Several native ladybugs that were once very common have become extremely rare over the past 20 years, while ladybugs from other places have greatly increased their numbers and range. This is happening very quickly and scientists don’t know how, why or what impact it will have on ladybug diversity. Lend scientists at Cornell and South Dakota State Universities a hand by helping them chart the progress of native ladybug species in the face of the Asian ladybug invasion. The Lost Ladybug Project is asking you to join them in finding out where all the ladybugs have gone by taking photos of ladybugs you see in your home or community. For more information on how to submit your ladybug photos visit
www.lostladybug.org
.
Do you have any stories of a past ladybug flocking? If you have any tips on how to deal with them, post a comment just below this story for everyone to read