All about Ladybugs

Ladybugs belong to the Coccinella genus and they are found all over the world. There are more than 500 species of ladybugs found worldwide, out of which more than 450 are found in North America. They are small insects and are about 0.04 to 0.4 inches in size. They have six jointed legs and a pair of antennae. They have hard shell wings, which cover their inner wings. They are generally red or orange in color with black markings. There are some species that are black with reddish colored markings. They are round or oval dome in shape.

Types of ladybugs:

The most common types of ladybugs include seven-spotted ladybug, convergent ladybug, C-Mac ladybug and the Asian ladybeetle. The seven-spotted ladybug is round in shape and they are found in Europe. They are bright red in color with seven black spots. The convergent ladybug is oval in shape and has orange body. They have different spot patterns of black in their body. They are the best-loved insects, as they help the gardeners by eating the aphids and other pests. They are prevalent in the Pacific Coastal States.

The C-Mac ladybugs are oblong shaped and are less than quarter inch in length. They feed on other insects and larvae, offering great protection to the garden.

Asian Ladybeetle is one of the larger ladybugs that can grow more than quarter inches long. They have five black spots on the anterior portion of the thorax and they look like two curved lines. Though they originated in Asia, they are commonly found in the United States.

Are ladybugs harmful to plants or humans?

Ladybugs are not at all poisonous or harmful to pets, property or to humans. However, they can cause some allergies. They do not carry any disease, but they may bite. The most significant damage caused by the ladybugs is discomfort for the homeowners. These insects congregate in buildings in large numbers, looking for warmth in the walls. They sometimes leave an odorous, yellow defensive chemical behind on the walls and other surfaces. Some people experience mild skin irritations due to these chemicals.

Getting Rid of Ladybugs

A group of ladybugs infesting your house can turn out to be a very big problem for you. If a situation rises where the ladybugs are creating problems for you and your family then it is very essential that you get rid of them.

One of the most common ways of getting rid of ladybugs is to seal all the crevices and cracks in your house. You can inject foam insulation in places like windows, light fixtures and molding. One of the best ways of getting rid of ladybugs is by using the vacuum cleaner. Like most of the other insects, vacuum cleaner would help you to clean the ladybugs out of your house.

You can also make use of the different chemical sprays in order to kill the ladybugs. You can spray the chemical on the ladybugs and the chemical will kill them in a matter of minutes and then you can get them out of the house. Ladybugs do not appreciate the scent of lemon. They tend to run away from the scent of lemon and hence you are highly recommended to spray some lemon scent in all the areas of your house and get rid of the ladybugs. This method is also one of the best homemade methods of driving away the ladybugs out of the house.

One of the best ways of preventing the ladybugs from entering your house is to seal all the screen windows, doors and screen in porches. It is widely observed that the most common and easy way of entering for ladybugs is through a crack on the screen window or door of your house.

The next thing that you need to seal is the window frames and the door frames. Siding is also one of the most important things that you need to take care of. There are many ladybugs who won’t give up if they see that your windows and doors are properly sealed. They would still try hard to get into your house. Siding is probably a very convenient way for them to enter into your house. You can seal and inspect the siding all by yourself without really requiring any kind of exterior help. However, if you are not very confident of carrying out the job yourself then you can also seek help from experts and professionals and get your work done.

The thing that you need to keep in mind is, do not give the ladybugs any kind of space to enter into your house. If they don’t get the space there is no way that the ladybugs can enter into your house. Most of the people ignore the fact that there is small opening or a crack in the window or the door frame of their house. Eventhough these things sound very small issues you should take them seriously and try and cover up the opening as soon as possible.

You can also make use of plenty of different types of pesticides that will help you get rid of the ladybugs. Almost all the pesticides that can get rid of them are very easily available in the market and they will not charge you much. It is highly recommended that you use a long lasting and a good quality pesticide in order to successfully get rid of the ladybugs. We advice you that you do some homework before you select a pesticide for this work. It is recommended that you select a pesticide which has been in the market from a longtime and which has gained a reputation for getting rid of ladybugs successfully out of the house.

Buying the wrong or low quality pesticide and then spraying it into your house can give rise to some other kind of complications. One of the things that you need to understand is the fact that ladybugs are not as dangerous as some of the other insects are to human health and hence as far as possible try to throw them out of the house instead of killing them. However, if the ladybugs are in a huge number than you are recommended to kill them.

You can successfully get rid of the ladybugs and make your house ladybugs free house if you properly follow some of the steps and methods that are mentioned above.
Dangers of Ladybugs

Dangers Caused By Ladybugs

During fall they hibernate in large numbers as several adults gather together under the base of the tree or places where it would be warm to beat the cold winter. The ladybugs could also be seen in your garden in plants like cilantro, fennel, tansy and wild carrot. By having attractive plants in your garden you may be giving invitation to lady bugs as well. They only come to your garden to be a source of food to the plants kept in the garden.  

The ladybugs do not cause any damage to human or to the infrastructure, but on the contrary they have been valued as farmer’s helper from the medieval times. Many believed that the ladybug was divinely as it was able to get rid of insects that could potentially spoil the crop. The name ladybug was derived from the Virgin Mary as people in the olden days had dedicated this bug and called it as the bug of our lady.

Several years ago farmers in Europe had thought that ladybugs might help them in several ways. The ladybugs when seen at home do not damage anything including the indoor landscape plants. They do not feed on any other food other than pests. The ladybugs do not sting humans and they are not carriers of any disease. They do breed only in plants outdoor and they will not be able to breed indoor.  

The ladybugs tend to come indoors only during winters, to keep them warm. When they come in large numbers inside the house then they crawl over the wall, fixtures, windows and other smooth surface. As they are beneficial insects killing plant eating insects these ladybugs are encouraged at homes and they are not driven away.

The ladybugs tend to move out during evening time from indoor and settle down in the garden amidst the beautiful flowering and fruit plants, as they will not able to fly long distance at night. By being with the flowering plants in your garden they immediately find their food .By having the ladybug in your garden it would help in higher productivity and is also seen as the farmer’s friend in increasing their farm produce.

Ladybugs are not poisonous or harmful to pets, property or to humans. At times they may cause some allergies. They are not carriers of any disease, but they may bite. The most significant damage caused by the ladybugs is discomfort for the homeowners. These insects stay in buildings in large numbers, always looking for warmth in the walls. They sometimes leave an odorous, yellow defensive chemical on the walls that can cause mild skin irritations to the residents.