Vinca (1000+ posts) Fri Apr-02-10 03:22 PM
THE HIP-CHALLENGED VINDICTIVE PRIMITIVE, A NOTORIOUS RE-SELLER
Original message
Ladybugs
I've got ladybugs all over the house! Since they're so good for the garden, I can't bring myself to kill them. Has anyone ever tried rounding them up and keeping them in a box or big jar until their services are needed? What would you feed them?
Mind_your_head (1000+ posts) Fri Apr-02-10 07:56 PM
Response to Original message
1. Are you SURE they are ladybugs? Perhaps they are Asian Lady Beetles
I suspect this when you say you've got "ladybugs all over the house".
Read about Asian lady beetles here:
http://www.kensavage.com/archives/ladybug-infestations-...
Vinca (1000+ posts) Sat Apr-03-10 07:13 AM
THE HIP-CHALLENGED VINDICTIVE PRIMITIVE, A NOTORIOUS RE-SELLER
Response to Reply #1
3. I think you might be right. I'll have to do more research on them.
If they were brought in to kill pests on apples, they must be good for something garden-wise. Guess we'll just keep opening the screens and giving them the boot.
femmocrat (1000+ posts) Fri Apr-02-10 08:13 PM
Response to Original message
2. They are probably the Asian Lady beetles, not ladybugs.
Don't worry about saving them. There are zillions of them and they hibernate indoors over the winter. You are probably seeing them now because they are waking up and trying to leave.
We had them everywhere a couple of weeks ago, but have only a few in the house now. It's been very warm here (PA) and I think they are ready to move outside. Good riddance! They are nasty little critters.
bvar22 (1000+ posts) Sat Apr-03-10 12:50 PM
Response to Original message
4. We have them too.
This little beauty works great for their removal.
after which a photograph of a battery-operated hand-held miniature vacuum cleaner
We also use it for Dirt Daubers and the occasional wasp that find their way inside.
There is a small Trap Door behind the little spout that closes when you turn it off, trapping the bugs inside until you are ready to dump them.
We use it in the garden for "no pesticide" control of Squash Bugs...very effective.
Also works well on smaller grasshoppers.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Oh Yeah, you can also use it to clean up small messes.
We really like this useful little tool, and use it all the time.
beac (1000+ posts) Wed Apr-07-10 10:10 PM
Response to Original message
5. I've experienced an Asian Lady Beetle invasion and it's definitely creepy.
This year, for the first time ever, we've had Stink Bugs invade. They've been around for at least a month now, even back when it was freezing cold. Nasty, nasty things-- but extremely slow and stupid and thus easy to catch and crush. Ick.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=246x12694
Oh my.
Good for vacuuming up tell-tale traces of marijuana stems and seeds, too.
We've never had a problem with ladybugs, or the Japanese bugs, whichever we had. One of our dogs thinks they're his version of skittles.
They show up here in the spring. Some people will have a whole bunch in their home all of a sudden, yet the next door neighbor may not have a one.
We usually see wasps in the house in the spring. They nest(?) in the attics, then when they wake up, they come into the living space through the heat vents...
The worst though are fly infestations. In the 20 some years that I have lived here....I've only had them a couple of times. Big suckers and they are just suddenly in the house...and are gone a day or two later, as quickly as they appear.
M sprays around the foundation of the house, and the bushes and flower beds several times a year....I hate bugs...but I reallllllllly reallllllllly hate spiders.... :censored:
One wonders if Abbie, Snow, the late Junior, the late Apricot, the late Floyd, the late Gordon, Harold, the late George, Ellie, the late Leo, Gustav, William, and the now-gone-to-another-home Decker, have, or had, anything to do with that.I don't know about bugs, but as far as rabbits are concerned, no wondering is necessary. Housecats are deadly when it comes to bunnies.
You know, I always kind of sort of wondered about something.
Does one suppose cats are good insect-repellants?
I used to notice, while living in Lincoln, that friends who had cats in their apartments, even if McKinley-era buildings, never had cockroaches, while friends who didn't have cats, even in moderne nouveau habitations, had cockroaches.
(The city of Lincoln sits in a "basin," which might account for this.)
When I moved out to this property, which hadn't been lived in for 10+ years, in the autumn of 2005, there were spiders, flies, wasps, and other insects, footed and flying, all over the place, and snakes and rabbits bouncing all around outdoors.
It's now been about four years since I last saw any of the latter species, and the indoor insects, while around, are virtually nil.
One wonders if Abbie, Snow, the late Junior, the late Apricot, the late Floyd, the late Gordon, Harold, the late George, Ellie, the late Leo, Gustav, William, and the now-gone-to-another-home Decker, have, or had, anything to do with that.
Does one suppose cats are good insect-repellants?
Mind_your_head (1000+ posts) Fri Apr-02-10 07:56 PM
Response to Original message
1. Are you SURE they are ladybugs? Perhaps they are Asian Lady Beetles
I suspect this when you say you've got "ladybugs all over the house".
You know, I always kind of sort of wondered about something.
Does one suppose cats are good insect-repellants?
I used to notice, while living in Lincoln, that friends who had cats in their apartments, even if McKinley-era buildings, never had cockroaches, while friends who didn't have cats, even in moderne nouveau habitations, had cockroaches.
(The city of Lincoln sits in a "basin," which might account for this.)
When I moved out to this property, which hadn't been lived in for 10+ years, in the autumn of 2005, there were spiders, flies, wasps, and other insects, footed and flying, all over the place, and snakes and rabbits bouncing all around outdoors.
It's now been about four years since I last saw any of the latter species, and the indoor insects, while around, are virtually nil.
One wonders if Abbie, Snow, the late Junior, the late Apricot, the late Floyd, the late Gordon, Harold, the late George, Ellie, the late Leo, Gustav, William, and the now-gone-to-another-home Decker, have, or had, anything to do with that.
Frank that can be attributed to the cats. They can be said to be small scale ecological disasters in areas where they move in. They will attack and kill anything that fits the category of large enough to draw their attention and smaller than them. Large bugs, mice, rats, spiders, small mammals, even small dogs and other cats.
RACIST ! :evillaugh: - suggesting that the lighter colored bugs are pests that move in swarms.. Racist Much, primitive ?I'd say the biggest problem here is sexism. "Ladybug", indeed! Why not "womynbug", or better, "personbug". Maybe you could use the LVL's "bodybug". Ladybug is just so demeaning to real womyn.
I'd say the biggest problem here is sexism. "Ladybug", indeed! Why not "womynbug", or better, "personbug". Maybe you could use the LVL's "bodybug". Ladybug is just so demeaning to real womyn.
I'd say the biggest problem here is sexism. "Ladybug", indeed! Why not "womynbug", or better, "personbug". Maybe you could use the LVL's "bodybug". Ladybug is just so demeaning to real womyn.
beac (1000+ posts) Wed Apr-07-10 10:10 PM
Response to Original message
5. I've experienced an Asian Lady Beetle invasion and it's definitely creepy.
This year, for the first time ever, we've had Stink Bugs invade. They've been around for at least a month now, even back when it was freezing cold. Nasty, nasty things-- but extremely slow and stupid and thus easy to catch and crush. Ick.