Lady bug invasion!!!! Help!!! (Charlotte, Lexington: houses, new construction, live in)

[hickorybro]

This is our first fall here in Lexington and within the last week we've suddenly been invaded by literally thousands of lady bugs. It's like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. They're even getting into our house and flying everywhere - walls, ceilings, lights, even set off one of our fire alarms at 4am the other night! I just got sweeping about 5,000 dead ones off of our front porch!

So, is this something that happens in this region every fall? Why the sudden spawn all of a sudden?

[NCgirl]

They may be asian beetles that look like ladybugs. This is common in NC. Here are two threads with some helpful tips on how to deal with these bugs.

Ladybug infestation! OMG! - Triangle Board

Ladybugs Everywhere! - Charlotte Board

[RuralGuy]

I posted a similar thread earlier this year (https://www.city-data.com/forum/kentu...g-so-bugs.html). We get them here (Northern Kentucky) both in spring and fall. They're not lady bugs but Asian lady beetles. They usually appear in fall after we have a major cool-down, followed by a warm up. That cool-to-warm change seems to trigger their emergence. In spring they come out after the first substantially warm day. They are experts at hiding within walls of homes and virtually impossible to eradicate. I just suck up a few hundred pounds of them each season with my shop vac.

Incidentally, these little suckers bite (actually, they pinch). We get them in our laundry room, and they like to drop down from the fluorescent light fixture onto the back of my neck and strike. They also give off a foul odor if you crush them. Nasty little bastards.

[hickorybro]

Thanks guys, that's exactly what we have :Asian Lady beetles.
Yes, they are such a nusance that I can't even sit on our porch and enjoy the nice weather anymore. My wife thinks I'm nuts because I'm constantly running around the house vacuming them off of the cieling and walls (I suppose it is a rather humurous site).

[Carolina Texan]

we gave in to the zen of it all, and bought a Ladybug Crossing sign for our screen porch

[SC122]

LOL carolina texan.
I just put them outside.they're supposed to bring you good luck
I hate bug sprays and chemicals...not good for you at all.go green.

[LLN]

When we were in Charlotte, we had a bunch. We just let them do their thing. Does not last long and is no big deal.

My 7 year old (at the time) had a nightmare one night that there were helicopters in her room. It was just the ladybugs.

lln

[hiddenangel]

We get them every single year around this time. They'll eventually go away. We currently have them climbing our walls, windows and ceiling. They love our closets too.

[enlightenme]

This happens to us too, but other people I ask that live in W-S don't know what I am talking about. Does it only happen to certain houses?? It is so weird. I am still finding a few here and there, but a few weeks ago it was horrible!

[SC122]

I think if you live near new construction,it tends to stir the bugs up.