eagle1

We moved into this older house back at the end of February. Everyday there would literaly be dozens of ladybugs in the sunny windows. Eventualy, the disappeared with the warmer weather. Well, since autumn has started and its getting cooler, guess what? They're baa-aack!

Without spraying chemicals all over the place, does anyone have any good ideas for getting rid of these stinkin' bugs?

Or a non-toxic chemical that's safe around kids and animals.

Thanks for any help.

mvassek

Don't get rid of them.

Ladybugs are one of the benificial bugs that follow a food source. If the LB are eliminated you will be overrun by many bugs most of which (even though they are small and not as noticable as the LB) will do a large amount of damage to not only your shrubs, flowers and grass but the other bugs could also cause damage to your home.

Ladybugs are natures exterminator and are a lot like bees in assisting plants to pollinate to help them to continue to thrive.

Let them be and they will move on after they clear out all of the bad bugs.

hotdogg

I have actually purchased lady bugs to get rid of aphids and other "nasty" critters that infest my rose garden. Capture them and set them free outside to protect your gardens.

yournamehere

Agreed !!!!

Ladybugs are voracious eaters, and will follow the food source - if they're hanging around your place, you can bet there are plenty of other bugs that are being eaten. When the bugs they're feeding on are gone, the ladybugs will go someplace else.

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Hard8s

Guess I am not needed here. It appears everything neede to be said has been said!

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axolotls

OK. We all don't think highly of your problem.

So... my answer would be to capture them all in a net and take them to the garden center and sell them.

Money for your problems!!

axolotls

To elabatore more on yournames' post.

THere are probably bazillions of nasty pests around your house that ladybugs are feeding upon. If you get rid of the ladybugs (Even with my suggestion) or some pesticide (not recommended).

YOu'll probably get a bumper crop of aphids or some other pests that'll do more harm than good.

eagle1

Okay, the problems is not the ladybugs on the outside of the house, it's the ladybugs on the inside!

This past weekend, we flushed close to SIX DOZEN lady bugs that were crawling around the ceiling and windows of our livingroom. Four or five bugs crawing around is no big deal, but when you look up and there are a dozne or so crawling around and you just cleared the window out an hour or so ago, it real creepy. Reminds me of the movie Amityville Horror!

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Redlemon

I don't have an answer for you, but it seems pretty weird, doesn't it? I mean, they have hard semi-spherical shells. How the heck do they get in? We had a "swarm" a couple of years ago, and there were a few that got into the house by the windows, but there were no gaps for them to access.

At least ladybugs are cute. (Hey! Who you callin' a lady?!)

Dibbler

Sounds like you live in the midwest. The last couple of years we've been overrun by the damn bugs. These aren't the cute little bugs from everyones childhood. I'd been told they are some kind of european lady bug. They don't have the spots like the good ones and they BITE! They come out about the same time as the "box elder" bugs which swarm the house in the fall too.

Typically they are trying to find a nice warm place to spend the winter. Try finding the spot they're getting in from and cover that up. Could be something as small as the gaps in the siding and/or the spot where the siding meets the foundation. Soapy water is an easy and safe way to kill them. Clogs them up so they can't breath. It took me a couple of years to get them under control so good luck.

eagle1

I actually live northeast of Seattle in the foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range. This weekend the weather was in the low 80s and they were all over, inside and out. Yesterday it was foggy and overcast there there were just a couple in the window.

I figure they only will come out during the sunny days, and unfortunatley for us in the Seattle area, we've only had about an inch and a half of rain since the beginning of JUNE. Not your typical Seattle summer.

I'm waiting for the invasion to hit next spring when it starts to heat up again.

"Just because I'm a ladybug, you think it make me a lady!"

axolotls

how about well placed "flypaper"?

i was in the Seattle heatwave last month. WTF is going on. I was looking forward to the rain...

wonder how they are getting the house. ?