Well, with the latest warm front, our neighbourhood has had a 'few' little visitors of the insect variety. We have fallen victim to SWARMS of lady bugs. They are coming into all of the houses on our street. For us, the biggest problem has been in the kitchen. Our back door, leading to the deck, seems to have a bit of a gap between it and the door frame. The gap seems to be the perfect size for our lady bug visitors to make their way into our house in an attempt to find a warm place to settle in for the winter.
This photo was taken before it even got bad. By the end of the day, I had about 50 of these little beetles in my kitchen.
Thank goodness for the internet. I don't know what we did before it existed! A quick google query armed me with the info that I needed to defeat these little pests. It seems that they aren't really 'lady bugs' in the true sense of the word...but they are a variation, and in actual fact, are a form of beetle. They are harmless and can actually be good to have around as they eat other types of insects that are not so pleasant to have around.
One the down side though, if you have enough of them, they can clog up vents and cause some major issues. Also, when they feel threatened the ooze this red fluid which can stain fabrics and wood. Not good!
The advice that I found online was to vacuum them up, while making sure not to leave the hose hanging loosely around the handle of the vacuum after the job was done. Apparently they will crawl back out! So, a piece of crunched up paper towel served as an effective road block at the end of the vacuum hose, while a whole lot of tape served the purpose of sealing up my back door for the few days until they are supposed to move onto some other unassuming neighbourhood!
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