Spring is coming...and so are the bugs! (Louisville, Shively: house, live in)

[RuralGuy]

Every year, when we get our first warm spell (daytime temperatures above 60 degrees or so), our area sees an explosion of Asian lady beetles like those pictured above. These are not lady bugs, but a pesky relative. Unlike lady bugs, these little punks will bite (pinch is probably more accurate) and if you crush them, they give off a nasty smell.

Somehow they always manage to get into homes--everyone I know in this area has the problem. We find clusters of them around windows, on ceilings, and just about everywhere else. On the worst days, the sun room in our house may have a couple hundred of these things crawling and flying around. This swarm of lady beetles usually only lasts a few weeks and then they disappear. I've done some research, and it seems that they generally crawl into walls and attics where they wait to emerge until another cold to warm temperature cycle.

I imagine we must have thousands of these beetles in our walls. Fortunately, the beetles aren't destructive. They're just very annoying.

I'm curious if other areas of the state have problems with these bugs. Also, has anyone found an effective way to get rid of them? They're so small, I doubt it's possible to completely seal a home against them. And if even if you can get to their hiding places when they go dormant, I understand that they're very resistant to most pesticides.

[tomocox]

Yes, highly effective way to take care of them is to get out the vacuum cleaner. It really does work.

[RuralGuy]

Oh, I always keep my trusty 6.5-hp shop vac handy during beetle season. I just wish there was a way to flush them out of their nesting places without having to knock out walls and pull-up insulation.

[missymomof3]

A co-worker was just saying today that her mother had that problem last year here in Louisville (actually Shively...)

[Miss Blue]

Those little critters invade us over here in east Ky too..We lived in a story and a half (old aluminum siding) dormer windows with attics on each sides of the upstairs windows and a basement..They were there by the thousands 2-three times a year..only from late october until the first warm day in March were they not a pest..We sold that house and now live in a brick ranch, no basement and I may find a dead one or two on the sunny window in the tv room..A painter told me that they are more attracted to the colors of gray, beige and tans than brick..He said they also hide under the shingles of your roof..We have a metal roof here..

[Toria]

we used to get them in Maine, too..so they aren't just a southern thang . A shop vac is your friend....

[kygman]

I sprayed the bug coated ceiling in my bathroom with a flying insect spray. When they started falling it sounded like it was raining in there. The vacuum works on them dead or alive! lol

[missymomof3]

Originally Posted by kygman

I sprayed the bug coated ceiling in my bathroom with a flying insect spray. When they started falling it sounded like it was raining in there. The vacuum works on them dead or alive! lol

Oh my goodness!

[dixiegirl7]

Llearn somthing everyday...I thought they were lady bugs. That explains why some buidlings and areas have them and others don't. WKU has a terrible problem with them in some of their old buildings. The window sills are covered with them.

[missymomof3]

Originally Posted by dixiegirl7

Llearn somthing everyday...I thought they were lady bugs. That explains why some buidlings and areas have them and others don't. WKU has a terrible problem with them in some of their old buildings. The window sills are covered with them.

If they are the ones I am thinking of they are more orange/yellow than red.