:evil: :evil: :evil: The mutant ladybugs are here!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARgh! They finally came out on this one sunny and warm day in between all the wintery days. I just know they are breeding! :roll:
It is beautiful out today. I found lots of ladybugs out Sat. when I was trimming my shrubs. Speaking of beautiful days, I spent the entire morning wandering around our new massive Wal-Mart Supercenter (4th largest in the US) that opened this morning.
LOL Why is it so fun to go to a new WalMart? I don't know, but it is. Stores are almost like Disneyland anymore. It is gorgeous, isn't it! I think we're at opposite ends of the state, but enjoying the same weather. These aren't the normal ladybugs, though. These are those horrid Japanese imports they shipped in to handle some sort of other bug, and they've taken over. They bite, something awful! And stink! I've been vacuming them up every since the sun came out. They are swarming over the whole house and getting in.
EWWW!! I'm in West TN about 45 min. north of Memphis. Are you in East TN? I love the mountains, but haven't been in several years.
okay, what is wrong with ladie bugs? We want them mail them to us! they keep our roses happy! And the many other plants we have!
I don't know what kind of lady bugs your talking about, but we have beetles that fly in our house and I hate that. We have a small wal-mart and its a zoo there I hate shopping there.
I believe Valerie is speaking of the Harmonia axyridis or Asian Lady Beetle (AKA Japanese Ladybug). They have an odor when crushed and a not so nice pinch. They are always looking for aphids even when they are on your body. Unlike the Hippodamia convergens or Convergent Lady Beetle (AKA Common Ladybug) in Autumn they like to come indoors to find a place for winter. I would love to have these guys at my place because last spring Handsome found masses of larva on our pine trees and thought they were pests so he sprayed them and this year we have had many problems with pests on our fruit trees as well as flowers. Valerie, do you get an infestation every year? I would love to see this!!! Patty
I've never seen one of these eat an aphid, or do anything beneficial. I've always lived in the country, and love regular ladybugs, but these are not anything like those. They look the same, except they are orangish and have fewer spots. But oooooooh, they hurt when they bite. Patty, what a great scientific explaniation. Thanks! Yes, they infest your house. Twice a year, spring and fall, they come out to breed. I have to run around with a vacume all day long, sucking them up from all the windows and doors. And the stench is awful. They have glands under their legs so that they are distastful to predators, but when you mess with them, the legs break and the stink fills the air. I don't know how far this pest ranges. I'd never heard of it in CA. But then I'd never seen a Japanese Beetle there, either. lol When you go outside, you have to swat them away from you because they swarm around the house. They aren't in the garden, they are in your buildings.
We get quit a few Japanese Beetles around here, true Japanese Beetles that is. I do not know if we are speaking of the same beetle anymore!!!:roll: The Harmonia axyridis actually has more spots then the Hippodamia convergens. Convergens have up to 13 spots and the other has around 19, this is according to my entomology book, that is why we may not be speaking of the same beetle after all. The Harmonia axyridis, Japanese Beetle, is also more orange but over winters indoors or tries to anyway. All Lady Beetle species are beneficial so this is another reason I do not think I am talking about the same beetles you have around your place. Patty
TM, you don't want all these ladybugs. The art teacher's house had a swarm of them today. They got in our hair, up our nose, on our clothes. I'm talking about thousands of them. Remember the movie The Birds? That's what this felt like, except with ladybugs. They are cute, but today they weren't.
We have those stinken Japanese Beetles too...ACK! I would be fine with reglar ladybugs, they eat other bad insects like plant mites and stuff, but these suckers are not productive and they eat my pumpkins on my porch!!! We have tons of them that hang out around our windows and the cats go crazy for them. Valarie is right TM, you do NOT want these suckers. They bite too! And yes, they smell. These are not your regular lovely ladybugs. They are the generic rip off of the ladybug.
My inlaws have crazy lady bugs that take over their house on a farm in VA every year about this time. They just vaccum them up, LOL.
Was at my MIL house this last week in MN and she has those gross things. Got back to Texas and we have tons of butterflys they are cute but it's like raining butterflys.
