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Ladybug Invasion!

© Christina Coruth

It's fall -- time to rake the leaves, take down the air conditioners, replace the screens with storm windows, scoop up the ladybugs... Did I say, "Scoop up the ladybugs?" Yes, indeed. For the past few years hordes of ladybugs have invaded New Hampshire. Some people call them Halloween Ladybugs because they swarm around Halloween time. However, depending on the weather, they may continue their invasion well into November. As I sit here writing this on an unusually warm and sunny November day, I can hear the familiar plick, plick of ladybugs as they hurl themselves at the window.

What Are They and Where Did They Come From?

Halloween Ladybugs, also known as Multicolored Asian Ladybugs, are not the same kind of ladybug that we have come to know and love. They are called Harmonia axyridis (Pallas) and are indigenous to Asia, not the United States. If you look closely at these little critters, you will see that they have physical differences from our typical ladybugs. They have a white segment with black blotches that form the letter "m" (or "w" depending on your perspective) in the area immediately behind the head. They also differ in color and number of spots from our usual ladybugs. Instead of the deep red color, these newcomers range in hues from red to orange to tan. Orange is the most common color. They can have up to 20 spots -- or none at all.

It is believed that they first arrived in New Hampshire in the summer of 1993, but were not discovered until 1994. Their history in the United States is an interesting one. Since they are beneficial insects, the United States and Canada attempted to introduce them to North America by deliberately releasing vast numbers of them into the environment. It's thought that they didn't survive since none could be found in the years following the releases. Our current population of Halloween Ladybugs is believed to have gotten its start as a result of some stowaway insects aboard an Asian ship that docked in New Orleans in 1988. They made themselves at home and began to spread across the states. Today they are common, especially in the northeastern part of the country and have even been found as far west as Oregon. What science couldn't do, the ladybugs did for themselves!

What's With All the Ladybugs and What Should I Do?

Halloween Ladybugs are beneficial -- they eat aphids and other soft-bodied insect pests. You're a lucky gardener if they have taken up residence in your garden. You're a lucky homeowner if they have taken up residence in your trees. You may not feel so lucky if they take up residence in -- your residence! Herein lies the problem. When the weather begins to get cold, the Halloween Ladybugs begin to look for a winter home. It is not uncommon for hundreds, even thousands of them to swarm into attics or the main living area of homes. If they get into the attic, they will find their way into the home. If they find openings, such as cracks, holes in screens, or other entryways, they will make their way into the home. If this isn't creepy enough, when one finds a nice cozy corner near the ceiling, it gives off a pheromone that attracts others and they all pile on. There can be a hundred or more piled into one corner! I know from personal experience. A few years ago, my living room and kitchen looked like part of the set for an old Alfred Hitchcock movie -- perhaps titled The Invasion of the Ladybugs.

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