How to Get Rid of Ladybug Pests

The Ladybug or Ladybird Beetle: A Very Helpful Insect

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There are 5000 species of Coccinellids worldwide; most are considered beneficial to the home gardener for they feed upon aphids, mealies, mites and other undesirable insects. They are often purposefully released for this very reason by gardeners, fruit and crop growers, in greenhouses and even the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota every year releases thousands in their indoor arboretum as a mean of natural pest control. It is popular folk belief that to have a ladybug land or drop upon you is fortuitous, releasing it grants you a wish and that killing a ladybug will invite bad luck.

These Orange Colored Ladybugs Are Not Native

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Getting rid of swarming hoards of these Asian Ladybird Beetles is what this article is about however. When many dozens or hundreds of these swarm in and around your home and enter through tiny cracks and gaps, you will have them on your walls, floors, on your furniture and in your bed. They get everywhere! Nothing is worse than having a live insect crawling around in your bed at night, landing into your hair or making a surprise drop into your bowl of corn flakes in the morning! Imagine dozens or hundreds crawling everywhere! It is a common occurrence in rural areas when ladybugs swarm.

The first and most obvious way to prevent a ladybird invasion into your home is to seal all windows and joint cracks with sealant. If you have a screened patio, screened doors or windows, ensure that the screen is perfect without even small tears or punctures. Be sure that it is properly sealed to the door-frame to not have even the smallest gaps. Ladybugs can squeeze through even the smallest of cracks and gaps. And if even one can get in, you can bet that others will follow suit as well.

To quickly gather them from floors, curtains, walls or even the ceiling in your home, use a wrap of duct tape around your fingers, sticky-side out, and tap them up to collect and dispose of them. Or release them outside, whatever you prefer.

Another quick method is to use the vacuum cleaner to gather them up but first you should stuff a nylon stocking into the vacuum hose and secure it tightly with a rubber band, then catch-up the bugs in this improvised ‘filter sock.’ You do not want the ladybugs crawling around inside of your vacuum cleaner bag so do use a filter of some sort. Otherwise they will eventually either climb out the open end of the vacuum bag and be losse again anyway, or chew their way through the paper vacuum bag and the next time you use the vacuum cleaner you will be enshrouded in a cloud of dust and detritus!

A Swarm of Ladybugs

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Ladybugs will ‘winter’ in temperate regions and therefore they are often one of the first bugs to be seen in springtime. They spent the winter in a state of low metabolic activity called “diapause” which is sort of like an insect version of mammalian hibernation. It certainly saves time instead of migrating.

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Most people would be surprised to know that that Asian Lady Beetles can actually bite. Another reason you do not want these bugs crawling around in your furniture or bed. If it are sitting or sleeping on one, they will bite you in defense. Squashing them leaves a rather unpleasant odor, most people already would know this. Over the longer term, their presence will leave fecal smears on surfaces too. Better to get rid of them fast before you find yourself looking at a bigger mess to scrub clean and possibly have to repaint. This is why we advocate using either the sticky-tape or vacuum cleaner method to gather and remove them from the home as soon as you see them.

Ladybugs Gather in Large Masses

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One of the most effective ways to get rid of ladybugs or at least to prevent their entry into the home in the first place, is to obtain diatomaceous earth from any gardening center. This is a powder white substance that consists of billions of nearly microscopic fossilized hard-shell algae that are quite sharp on the edges. It is not exactly known or understood how or why spreading this around windows and doorways prevents or discourages insects of many types from entering (esp. ladybugs) but it is generally believed that the glass-like edges of the diatomaceous earth are like little razors. They cut and slice the insect, causing it to dry out through desiccation, and die. The insects either die before they cross this barrier, shortly thereafter, or they are repelled by it. Either way, the insect is directed away from entering your home. This is one of most effective pesticide-free methods of keep ladybugs out of your home. And there will be no little pesky bugs crawling around under your sheets at night.