Bugged by Ladybugs
There once was a ladybug … who lived in my shoe … She had so many children … She didn’t know what to do
It’s not science fiction or a nursery rhyme tale. Alfred Hitchcock couldn’t have dreamt this up. Neither could Mother Goose. In a cartoon gone cruel scenario, we have been invaded by ladybugs. They swarmed by the thousands on a warm day in January, hibernated in February, and woke up in March to crawl on my sunny window panes like little spotted Volkswagen beetles in a bumper to bumper traffic jam.
Basking on windows … With hornets and flies …. Waddling around … like amusement park rides …
People around here suck them up into vacuum cleaners. Others used poison to control them. These Disney-like characters that I once thought were cute are literally littering my house. In broad daylight and in droves they land on my computer screen, in my tea, and in my hair. I know they eat aphids, but they stink. Their blood stains yellow and they aren’t supposed to be here.
Fly away ladybug … Fly away soon … You should be in a garden … And not in a room! ~ Colleen
Post notes: The second photo is one of all the ladybugs (RIP) that have collected in the light fixture in my office. I wasn’t kidding, was I? Learn more about the lady bug infestation HERE. THIS JUST IN. It’s a video clip of the ladybugs swarming my house.
March 28th, 2007 12:01 pm
Oh my goodness, this is BIZARRE! We have an infestation of doodle bugs every spring. They settle in the front rooms-living room, dining room, entry and l bedroom. I find them dying and dead all along the baseboards. This goes on for a month or so. Thank goodness they don’t fly! Colleen, this must be very annoying!! Is there an end in sight?
Susan
March 28th, 2007 12:35 pm
We had that here one year, but not again. Every spring we get a few ants in the kitchen, but a little spray takes care of them. Once we had a horrible infestation of centipedes, the small ones that crawl really fast. That drove me crazy!
March 28th, 2007 12:46 pm
I have heard of these lady bug invasions. Although I am happy to have them in my garden, I would not want them in my house. And to have them cover a wall, or in my tea, or in my hair.. well that would just freak me out.
March 28th, 2007 12:49 pm
That is incredible Colleen! Ladybugs are supposed to be very good luck, but I’m not sure it was supposed to be droves of them! I heard about this once before and it is almost incomprehensible…I do hope you get them under control, my dear.
March 28th, 2007 1:39 pm
We had the same kind a few years ago and they weren’t like the usual kind – they were lighter orange and they could really bite! Mt cats were entertained for hours watching them crawl on every wall and ceiling light!
Love your poem!
March 28th, 2007 4:04 pm
AHHHHHHH!!!! They’re B-B-B-BAAAAAACKKKK!!!!
Sorry for the swarming….we’re being invaded by 17 year cicadas this year….numbers are suppose to be in the trillions here. Fun Stuff. Ladybugs dont like sage smoke though!
March 28th, 2007 4:18 pm
Asian ladybugs in droves of thousands are usually bad luck…maybe they leave good luck when they migrate away…just dont accidentally eat one…they’re nasty believe me!
March 28th, 2007 4:21 pm
I didn’t think that ladybugs bite, but Joe said they bit him, so I checked it out and they DO bite.
http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=649&bhcd2=1175112866
When we were new to Virginia, in the mid to late 80s, we got to experience cicadas! I couldn’t believe how many there were and the sound they made. They left their discarded shell bodies all over the place and my sons used to play with them, setting them up for battles and wars!
March 28th, 2007 4:36 pm
i never knew they bit, either, until my husband got bit. maybe they just like to bite men! 🙂
i thought i had a lot in my house until i saw your photo!
March 29th, 2007 12:01 am
YOWZA! Ladybugs are cute and helpful, but I think I would die if that many were in my house! You are brave — best of luck with getting them under control.
March 29th, 2007 12:31 am
Yikes! I thought ladybugs were supposed to be good luck – but this is just too much. I’ve got the creepy-crawlies now.
March 29th, 2007 7:49 am
Yuck! Something so cute, yet in infestation level numbers, it is no longer a cute and happy sight.
March 29th, 2007 7:57 am
Yep, we’ve had them like that at my mother’s house…in the skylights. Funny story…My oldest daughter loves bugs and when she was 2, my brother and his wife bought her a “Ladybug House”. We sent a little post card away and received about 500 ladybugs in the mail. The “house” turned out to be a little cardboard box with windows. I was putting the ladybugs into their house and then realized…they had formed a nice straight line…right out of the other side of the box!!! I had tons of ladybugs in the house. My daughter thought it was great! Oh..and yes, my mother used the vaccum!;)
March 29th, 2007 9:54 am
Wow, Colleen, I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one who has been invaded by the cute little “ladies”.
Ugh…they are all over my house and I can’t imagine how they got in to start with.
You and I live pretty much in the same area of the US so I guess they chose us this year.
March 29th, 2007 10:17 am
They did that one year in Mississippi. We swept them up and put them in plastic bags in the fridge. When the weather warmed up we put them out in the garden so they would wake up and do their thing. I haven’t seen any this year yet. They do keep the aphids off the roses.
March 29th, 2007 10:00 pm
The college of nursing had a yearly infestation of box elder bugs, harmless beetles in red and black, often in the fall. One year, on Halloween, the entire staff, secretaries and support folks, came to work dressed as box elder bugs. Put up a “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” sign.
March 29th, 2007 11:13 pm
My stepmother had an infestation of ladybugs in her guest bathroom.
I found a couple of fine linen guest handtowels with ladybugs embroidered on them.
I thought they would go with the decor and would show hospitality to the ladybug guests!
March 30th, 2007 9:57 am
My old car had a dead ladybug, pretty much intact, in the back window, for about–no kidding–5 or 6 years, until the back window was smashed by a pharmacist shoveling snow off his roof. . . and onto my car.
I wish I lived in the country like you. . . no city parking.
March 30th, 2007 11:51 pm
Makes me wish they could just be redirected to farms and gardens that need them as beneficial insects — they’re actually sold for that purpose.
Hmm — wonder if you could put a swarm on E-bay 🙂
April 5th, 2007 11:04 am
Hey, I was just looking up Irish traits and ran across your website blog! Very interesting site. We have those asian beetles (ladybugs) all over Minnesota, it’s horrible! When they “bite” you , it is actually them peeing on you! Digusting huh! Those bugs were all over my house even during the winter! Whoever thought bringing them is to the United States to eat aphids sure did not realize what the eccects were!