alcooke

The recent cold weather followed the more recent warming trend will likely bring our friends the Asian Lady Buildings (ALBs) out on a delayed trick or treat from western NC through the Piedmont. (They've already been reported in Chatham!) For those of you who might be new to lady beetlemania, I'll review some details. You can also read our Insect Note about http://insects.ncsu.edu/harmonia.htm

As we plod on through the fall, the beetles use visual or physical cues to find suitable overwintering sites. Although these locations tend to be the sunnier or warmer sides of buildings, or on exposed light-colored buildings, this doesn't mean that people with dark-colored siding, brick or log homes are immune to the lady beetle assault. Research has shown that the beetles seem to respond to contrasting and often right-angle shapes or reflective colors, which conveniently (for them) are what windows and doors might resemble against the overall background of a house. Once the beetles arrive at the site, they use chemical cues to locate the specific crevice they want to inhabit within the structure. The source of these chemical cues may be beetle feces from previous winters (yes... they live and poop inside your walls), or the odor of beetles that died at the site, or possibly an attractant or pheromone released by the beetles. So, think of your house as the sacred ladybeetle burial ground.

We've listened to horror stories of houses inundated with literally thousands of beetles that drop from the ceiling onto people while they're eating, sleeping or watching TV (or doing all three at the same time), or else cause the family cat to scale lampshades in an attempt to catch the beetles. The sheer numbers of beetles that appear over the course of the winter and spring convince people that the beetles are reproducing in the house. Of course, this isn't true. The beetles prey mostly on tree-feeding aphids, but they are also found in a variety of agricultural crops. They lay their eggs on these same plants. So, unless you've got soybeans planted in your front sitting room, then the beetles are not reproducing or laying eggs in your house. The beetles show up because they are simply heeding Nature's call to escape harsh winter weather much the same as the annual pilgrimage of New Yorkers and Canadians heading south on I-95 towards Florida during the next post-hurricane three months.

The beetles do not cause real structural damage, if you exclude the odor and yellow-brown stain that they often leave when you disturb or squish them. There have been reports that the beetles may "bite", but it's more like a pinch (unless you're a real whimp). There have been published reports of people developing significant allergies from exposure to airborne particulates from decaying lady beetle carcasses. So, the lady beetles aren't entirely innocent of any wrongdoing.

Things haven't changed tremendously concerning ALB control. Pesticides remain questionable in their effectiveness. A colleague of ours, Dr. David Shetlar at the Ohio State University has compiled information about the most "effective" pesticides available for the Buckeye general public to use in their fruitless assault on the lady beetles:

http://ipm.osu.edu/lady/home.htm

While the results seem somewhat promising, please bear in mind that these tests were performed with small sections of siding. So, let's make the leap from fantasy to practicality and consider the logistics and safety behind trying to treat sufficient exterior areas of a home to prevent beetles from gaining access. Even if you do treat around windows and doors, there is a lot of unchartered territory for the beetles to explore. We still see chemical control as being mostly an exercise in futility. However, since people are driving less because of high gas prices, they need something to entertain the family with on weekends. So, stalking lady bugs may work. If people do try to spray pesticides on the exterior of their houses, particularly up high over their heads, please stress to them the need to wear some sort of personal protective equipment, particularly something to protect their eyes, head and other exposed body parts from the chemical mist that rains down upon them and their kids who are watching nearby. Yes..... keep kids and pets OUT of the area, preferably inside. Likewise the kids' toys and pet dishes.

We still recommend the tried-and-true method of vacuuming up wayward beetles indoors, although this recommendation rarely appeases irate callers who then make rude and socially unacceptable suggestions as to what we can do with vacuum cleaner bags full of beetles. One potential problem with vacuuming up the beetles is the odor from the accumulating dead and/or squished beetles inside the vacuum cleaner bags, particularly if the bags are not changed frequently. This can actually be a potential issue for people who do become sensitized to the beetles and might develop allergic reactions. You can suggest that they insert a knee-high stocking into the vacuum's extension hose and then secure it with a rubber band before putting the attachment back on. This allows you to trap the beetles inside the stocking, which then conveniently closes up at the end with the rubber band when you remove it. You can also simply tie a knot in the end of the stocking. You then have a few options. For environmentally minded individuals, keep the beetles in the refrigerator over the winter and release them into the garden next spring. Unfortunately, many (likely most) of the beetles will not survive the long winter's nap in your Frigidaire. An alternative is to toss your beetle-filled stocking into the garbage or dump the beetles into a container, freeze them, and then scatter their carcasses in the yard, presumably to teach the remaining beetles a lesson about invading your home. This last option also allows you to reuse the stocking (to catch more beetles, not to wear it).

Blacklight traps work well for catching beetles in some situations and this may be particularly important for commercial facilities, such as hospitals and some manufacturing plants, where any type of biocontamination is a critical issue. These facilities often use the expensive industrial style light traps (not the traditional "bug zapper" type of trap you hang in your yard for summer entertainment). There is a trap that homeowners can build and use in their homes. These traps will work best at night with minimum interior lighting (i.e., with all lights off) or during the day if you close your curtains to keep out extraneous exterior light and the prying eyes of nosey neighbors who want to know what you're doing behind those closed curtains.

The trap is about 12" x 24" and reportedly can easily be assembled or disassembled in as little as two minutes. Of course, the person who made that statement writes instruction manuals for connecting your new DVD and HDTV toys. You can access the schematic for making your own trap at the URL: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/lbeetle/001030.trap.pdf

If you're not into do-it-yourself ladybeetle trap construction, you can buy one of the new commercial models:

http://www.biconet.com/traps/asianTrap.html

Please note that we are not endorsing this commercial trap, the manufacturer or any candidates for political office.