One characteristic of gifted and talented teens is there inquisitiveness. They have a marked curiosity for life and for the events that go on around them. In this part of the world, Ontario, and surely other parts of North America, there have been hoards of ladybugs this fall. Why?
To tell you the truth, this year is the year in which I have learned to dislike ladybugs. All through my childhood I loved them. On the insect scale, they used to have the prestige of a butterfly. Now they have dropped to a lowly status of a biting beetle.
These ladybugs are everywhere. They are on the thirteenth floor of the university tower. They are in my bedroom. They are crawling by the hundreds into my kitchen under renovation. They are attacking my dad as he works outside and biting him as they crawl into his clothes. They are anywhere you hope they will not be.
These dreadful bugs are a great variety of colours. Some are blood red. Others a pale yellow. Many are covered in dust. I really don’t know which is worse. A live one crawling landing on your lip as you eat breakfast or a dead one that is all hard and crisp.
But back to the point. Why are they so numerous this fall? Some people claim that, since they are biting, they are more likely to be mutant beetles. There is actually some truth behind this. The Asian ladybug is replacing the Native ladybug in North America. Asian ladybugs bite, invade homes more often, and even eat fruit left out. Ontario has 75 species of ladybugs. Since these ladybugs have no predators they can multiply rapidly. It has also been a mild fall with temperatures favorable for ladybug development.
There is no need to panic about this “invasion.” Bites are not poisonous. The bugs seem to hoard together and this makes people more nervous. The hoarding is only for their protection. These bugs were actually introduced as natural pesticides in the United States but have proliferated and found their way to Canada. Outside they are beneficial to most farmers.
What should you do if you have them in your house? Don’t swat them! They will let lose a stinking liquid that can stain. Use a vacuum to catch them and dispose of them outside. Just think of it positively. First of all they mean that your fruits and vegetables don’t need as many toxic pesticides. Secondly, ladybugs in the home indicate cracks that need fixing- by fixing these you not only rid yourself of the bugs, you save money on heating in the winter!
Go To Page: 1
