Lady Beetles

Asian Lady Beetles are typically attracted to the south or southwest side of lighter colored homes & buildings. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of these beetles will gather on homes & enter through gaps, cracks, crevices, around windows, doorframes, behind fascia boards, exterior siding, within soffits, attics, wall voids, electrical boxes, torn screens, etc....Therefore structures with several openings & on multi-levels are most vulnerable to infestations.

One of the ways that you can usually identify them is by the small dark "M" or "W" shaped marking on the whitish area behind their head. 

Homes & buildings in country settings or forest areas tend to have a higher population of these beetles & the same is true for landscaped suburban & industrial settings that are adjacent to wooded areas.

Once inside, lady beetles hibernate, until the first warm days of late winter or early spring, when they seem to come to life again & begin crawling about.

As Asian Lady Beetles awaken they attempt to escape to the outdoors although some wander inward, emerging from behind baseboards, walls, attics, suspended ceilings, etc...& when disturbed they emit an acrid odor & can stain surfaces with their yellowish secretions.

This reawakening takes place over several weeks, depending on temperatures & the size of the population.

Once Lady Asian Beetles have become established in the home, the treatment options are limited. The easiest way to remove ladybugs, once they are indoors, is with a vacuum cleaner.

We recommend sealing up openings to help prevent Asian Lady Beetles from entering homes & structures. The time to do this is in late spring or summer, before the adults begin flying to buildings in search of overwintering sites.

While sealing cracks and openings is a more permanent way to limit beetle entry, the approach is time-consuming and sometimes impractical when there are countless areas to seal up.

Therefore to help lessen the effects of Asian Lady Beetle infestations we may recommend an Exterior Barrier Treatment.

The Asian Lady Beetles are not known to transmit diseases although they do bite & have been known to cause asthma in some individuals, they’ve also been known to cause eye irritation therefore you should avoid touching your eyes after handling these beetles to help prevent allergic reactions.