How to get rid of ladybugs
 

ow on earth do you get rid of lady bugs? There are, and I ma not exaggerating in any way, 100 ladybugs outisde my front door. Around 200 others are around various windows around the house. Any clues on how to get rid of them?

wow deja-vu....seems like i've read this thread before..lol


anyhow you could try spraying them w/ WD-40 or for a less toxic remedy try spreading Diatomaceous earth (available at swimming pool supply shops) around the areas they congregate.

Lady bugs are beneficial, you should try to attract them not get rid of them. In addition to being harmless to you, they feed on insects which are parasitic to your plants.

get rid of lady bugs? why?

i've bought bags of 'em a couple of times to munch on the pesty insects, but they always fly away :\

Well, they may be beneficial, but too much of a good thing is a bad thing.

When you have 100-200 ladybugs around your front oor, and about 10 inside on the door, and another hundred on the windows desperate to get inside, they are rather annoying. They aren't around the plants, they are just on the siding and columns on the deck.

maybe your siding & deck has a bunch of thrips they're feasting on...? thrips used to be all over my wooden picnic table. that picnic table is now history.

thrips are the tiniest little evil pests. i hate them with all my heart. they forced me to give up growing roses.

If you look closely you'll probably notice that they're not ladybugs at all but those asian flying beetles that look almost identical to them.

No idea how to get rid of them other than a leaf blower or an aresol can and a barbecue lighter.

Just came back from a two week visit in Illinois---yea, those are Asian beetles....and damn do they bite...and they are every where. The word we heard up there was that they were brought into the USA to eat aphids, and now they are out of control and there is NOTHING that will kill them---except a 180 pound man standing on them...while six more are biteing you....maybe they will freeze out. Glad we only have mosquitos, chiggers and rattle snakes to worry about.

I've found that the best way to deal with them is to use a Dust Buster-type vacuum cleaner to suck them up. If you squish them they smell bad and they can stain clothing too. Really pesky little things. A shop vac would work really well too.

In the past week I have vacuumed around 70 of those bastards

What the hell could make Ladybugs swarm like that?

Their food source is depleted so that's why they'll take an occasional bite of your arm.....see if you taste like aphids. Plus their looking for a place to spend the winter.

I'm with you soccerchamp76. I suck a bunch of them up, put the thing back to recharge and by that time 20 more have popped up around the windows.

Shopvac should work wonders. We have the same kind of problem around here but it's with moths. Break out the vac and go to it!

Well the temps are dropping so the bastards are gone but last year we had no problem with them and then all of the sudden there are like 200 outside our front door. Insane.

Every year ladybugs migrate to find a warm spot for the winter. You will see them for a few weeks, then they will dissapear for a bit, only to come out when it warms up again.
<- One of the horticulture teachers at my school.
We had tons of them out at our school, and i think there is a couple thousand in my dorm's drop ceiling.

What about those box elder beetles? The swarm around the front of my house in MI every fall and behind the screens. Eventually they fall away but many get in the house. I hear they breed in your house. What's up with that????

what do lady bugs taste like? Ants are kind of lemony

This very question was discussed on the radio by an agricultural agent. Basically you don't. You learn to co exist. All other efforts will work partially and ultimately tire you out.

Tell 'em there's a sale at Casual Corner or some such.

WD40 & a lighter.......... :)