Orange ladybugs How to get rid of Orange Ladybugs

It was wishful thinking; I wanted them to be gone—those orange ladybugs.  They aren’t. 

I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.  In the fall they swarmed in, settling on everything.  For weeks (maybe months) I couldn’t walk through my house without stepping on their little carcasses.  Occasionally I felt like I was the target of a dive bombing mission.  They bite and they smell.

Of course this wasn’t the first time I had these critters winter-over in my house, but it seems like they were here in greater numbers than before. They were a nuisance until shortly after Christmas.  Then, they just sort of disappeared until early March when they started littering my floors and swarming around the windows again.  Experience tells me they will soon head for the outdoors, but they’ve been enough of a pest that I thought I’d look into the what, where, when, and why of them.  I wanted to know if there is something I can do to keep them from coming in next year.

These orange ladybugs are not the ladybugs I grew up with.  Those were red with black dots, considered cute—used as decorating motifs and clothing embelishments from time to time—and the inspiration for a favorite old nursery rhyme, “Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home…”  The new ones certainly are not enjoyable.  They are, however, part of the same beetle family, coccinellida.  In most English speaking countries they are all commonly called some variation of ladybug, ladybird, or lady beetle.  I think the newcomers are properly call Multi-Colored Asian Lady Beetles because they really do come in a variety of colors—oranges, browns, tans; it’s the orange ones we seem to notice the most.  Other than color these orange ladybugs look pretty much the same as our native red ones to most people.  And, they give us the same benefit the red ones did. They eat plant aphids and other agricultural pests.  In fact, that’s why they are here.

As early as the 1960s, in an effort to control aphids on crops as varied as pecan trees, apples, and soybeans, the US Department of Agriculture sponsored a program to release ladybird beetle species from Asia and Australia.  This was done even though the US had hundreds of native species.  It does need to be said that many of these native species, individually, prefer one or another plant pest as a food source.  Other eating habits and their habitat range also vary.  So, the thought behind the project may have been “to fill a hole.”  It also should be noted that since the foreign species have been introduced, populations of native species have been in decline.  (When was the last time you actually saw a red ladybug?) 

It is not known if the presence of the newcomers is contributing to the decline.  What is known is that the new species are prolific.  They were originally introduced into several eastern and southern states and have spread across the country.  By the mid 1990s people were beginning to consider them a nuisance because they infiltrate homes in great numbers during cold weather.  Orange ladybugs seek shelter when the outdoor temperature falls below 50 degrees Fahrenheit—hibernate during the coldest weather—and become active again when the temperature rises.   They will find any warm, protected crack or crevice. It just so happens that our homes and other buildings provide plenty of spaces that meet the criteria.  That they pack themselves together in large numbers increases the warmth factor.  This probably contributes to the lengthy life span (2 – 3 years) of this variety of lady beetle.  Our native red ladybugs, which rarely live through a winter, do not exhibit the swarming behavior.

Because they swarm in our houses orange ladybugs are a nuisance, but they are not officially considered a pest.  They consume a great many other insects that are detrimental to crops and gardens.  They pose no major threat to humans.  They can bite, but are not reported to draw blood.  They do not purposefully target people and it is thought that many so-called bites may be a prickling sensation from stiff, hairy spurs on their legs.  They also stink.  The odor comes from an orange fluid (beetle blood) emitted as a defense.  Some people are allergic to proteins in this fluid.  It can stain walls and fabrics, too.  Personally, I find it most unpleasant to realize I’m swallowing one as I take a gulp of coffee.  They do get into everything.

I was greatly interested in finding an answer to my question about keeping these insects out of the house next fall.  What I found was not highly encouraging.  Basically, all one can do is prepare the house for cold weather inside and out.  Caulk around switch plates, outlets and any vents to the outside.  Covering vent openings with a small mesh screen at the outside end helps, too.  Make sure windows and doors fit their frames correctly and caulk around them.  If you find a mass on the outside of your house, hosing them off may inspire that bunch to move on—but more will come.  Inside, vacuuming them up is the easiest way to remove them.  (You will want to immediately empty the vacuum outside; it will stink.)  Using bug sprays on any found hibernating is not very effective as their respiratory rate will be too low for the chemicals to work.  Some black light ladybug traps are advertised online.  But again, if the traps work, still more beetles will come.  For this same reason hiring an exterminator is next to futile. (Also, many exterminators hesitate to destroy insects that are so beneficial to crops.)

In conclusion—more will come.  We’ll be sharing our houses with these orange ladybugs again next winter.