Ladybugs in house

Ladybugs are tiny, red coloured; attractive insects that are chiefly found in natural habitat like a garden
or a tree canopy. The ladybugs are mostly in red colour with black spots on them however they come in
a wide range of colours. Ladybugs have always been a more agreeable form of insects for the human
beings because they don’ t bite or attack the human beings, they do not thrive on food or plants and
they don’ t invade the food storage places in a house, store or a large granary.
For the ladybugs, a garden or a tree canopy is their natural habitat. Like most other insects, they spend
much of their live in these places. However during hibernation, these bugs have to leave their natural
habitat and move away in search of a warmer place. Hence ladybug infestation in house is widespread
during the colder winter season. A Ladybug infestation is one when thousands of these tiny insects are
found crawling along you’ re the walls or the floors of your house. It really is scary to see these bugs
moving out in large numbers.
Now let us study the reasons behind this ladybug infestation in house. Soon after the arrival of the
winter season, these bugs begin to feel cold. For survival, they need to protect themselves from the cold
temperatures and cold winds. They practice hibernation and leave the gardens and trees in search of a
warmer place. They take shelter in dry places like the cracks on the walls, the corners of the house like
the interior attics, roofs and the crevices in the furniture of the house. This is the reason why you will
find these bugs in extremely large number moving about your house. They will find their way into your
house through the doors, windows and the gaps in the wall.
It has been established that the ladybugs go for light coloured houses. These insects aren’ t as
troublesome as other insects as they cause little damage to your house or things in your house.
However because of their presence in large numbers, a ladybug infestation is caused. It is thus
important to get rid of these bugs from your house practicing these few simple steps. Just before the
onset of winter, check the crevices and cracks on the wall, small fissures in the window sills and the
vents of the house and the garden. If there are any openings, fix them quickly with a caulking agent
thus stopping the entry way for these bugs into your house.
If there is a very high number of this bug in your house, there are chances that you could find their eggs
in the infested regions. Vacuum out all the bugs from that region using a dry vacuum cleaner and throw
them out at a place far away from your house or garden. You could spray insecticide or pesticide
containing either pyrethrins or permethrin to kill these bugs following the guidelines mentioned on the
leaflet. You could smoke these bugs out of your house as they would either run away from smoke or die
out due to suffocation. You could effectively get rid of the ladybugs in house by practicing the above
steps.
Ladybug Infestation General Info

Ladybug Infestation Ladybugs, scientifically termed as Coccinellidae, are tiny, red coloured, beautiful
insects that dwell mostly in the gardens. Ladybugs, in the insect kingdom, are classified as beetles.
These insects are a pretty sight to look at however too many of them could create a Ladybug
infestation. Let us get to know a few basic things about Ladybug infestation. Ladybugs are easily
amongst the most popular of all insects. They have pretty bright colours and human beings find them
quite agreeable because they don’ t bite, don’ t feed on plants or food and most importantly don’ t enter
the food storage areas at home or in a store or a large storage house.

Causes of Ladybug Infestation

A ladybug infestation is mainly caused due to two reasons. First, ladybugs feed on other smaller insects
called aphids, kind of a houseplant bugs. So ladybugs could enter a house if there are aphids on the
houseplants. The second reason, which is a predominant one, is that on most occasions a ladybug
infestation occurs immediately after a cold winter. During hibernation, to shelter them from the cold
winds, these bugs look for a warmer place and shield themselves in the cracks of a wall or in fissures in
other places. They come out soon after the temperature begins to rise. Very often, when these bugs are
moving out of the cracks and fissures at home, they come out in thousands, thus causing a ladybug
infection. Ladybugs, as mentioned earlier, are extremely affable and cause no damage, however
because they throng along in a huge number once the winter is over, they appear threatening to the
human beings.

Unplesant Odor with Ladybug Infestation

Some people who contracted this infection claim that these bugs emit an unpleasant odour when they
are thousands in number. These bugs reportedly also emit a yellow coloured liquid that can tarnish the
cloth. Now let us learn the measures to be taken to get rid of the ladybug infestation. One of the most
effective measures to be taken if the ladybugs have invaded you home or store is to vacuum them out
of the affected areas.
You need to be careful not to keep the vacuum pipe near a place or a machine because the lady bugs
will quickly crawl into that machine. You could simply cover the mouth of the nozzle with a thin piece
of paper and then make way for the trapped ladybugs at a faraway place from your house. Just before
the onset of winter, check out if there are any cracks or crevices on walls of your house and your
garden. If there are any, seal them. Also ensure that there is no way for these bugs to enter your house
through the window or the region adjoining the window. Create smoke in the house.
These bugs will either go out of the house by themselves or will die out due to the smoke. Pesticides
containing either pyrethrins or permethrin in it are effective pest control. You could spray these
pesticides to kill the huge numbers of ladybugs. Paint the wall of your house with brighter colors as
ladybugs are more attracted towards light colors and paints. Ladybug Infestation is thus easy to prevent
following the above steps.
Ladybug Infestation – What is it and how to get rid of ladybugs

Hippodamia convergent or Ladybug Infestation is a major problem in the

areas of Sierra Nevadas, Rocky, Appalachian, Blue Ridge Mountains and other
mountainous areas throughout the United States and Canada. But what we call
infestation is really a way of living adapted by them. They are heat loving
creatures so whenever there is a drop in surrounding temperature they hibernate.
“Hibernation” is a common concept of going in a long sleep, but in this case
it differs slightly. In winter the temperature around drops down, so the Ladybugs
grow quite uncomfortable. As is nature of any creature they get attracted to heat
and light colors. Usually they are attracted to old houses with faded colors and the
heat that house reflects. But once penetrated in a particular place the ladybugs
are very difficult to get rid of. As a communication medium during mating and
hibernation the Ladybugs release perfume like hormone. Others can smell it from
as far as ¼ mile. The scent remains year after year and let other Ladybugs know,
even for some generations, of a good place for camping during winter. Scrubbing
the pheromones from the house is a tough task.
The yellow liquid that’s seen frequently during this is their blood (hem
lymph). The blood also contains pheromones so its stains and stinks. One can see
the blood when he/she holds the Ladybug. When afraid it usually releases the
blood as it stinks a lot and gives the predators an impression that the Ladybug is
not such a good choice for lunch.

Some common queries about “Ladybug Infestation”:

Q. Why do Ladybugs come in the house? Is this ladybug infestation
A. Ladybugs are heat loving creatures so whenever there is a drop in
surrounding temperature they hibernate. They are usually attracted to houses
having light color and clear south western exposure to the sun. due to lack of
insulation older houses face more problem. They search for a warm place to
hibernate in groups. So even if a single is spotted there have to be many more.
They enter through cracks, windows, door trim etc.

Q. Will they eat anything once they enter the house?

A. While hibernation Ladybugs live off their own body fats. Even after
hibernation they won’t feed on your fabric, plants, furniture or anything else.
They have APHIDS as their natural diet. APHIDS are Pests found on plants (usually
roses).

Q. Why Ladybugs die in the house?

A. As the ladybugs require warmth they also require humidity. During
winter, we keep our homes rather dry than humid. This causes the hibernating
ladybugs to die due to dehydration. To avoid dehydration many times you must
have seen a ladybug trying to have a sip of water or any other liquid.
The hibernation being a life cycle for the Ladybugs, many a times becomes
a huge trouble for us. There are very simple ways to avoid this. Some of the
precautions that can b taken are:
1. To make sure all cracks around windows, doors, clap boards, pipes, ect.
are sealed properly.
2. Some pest control companies provide service called INCLUSION. But this
is a expensive process.
So if you are not a huge fan of Ladybug Infestation, you can avoid it by
taking some very simple precautionary measures.