[dcook]

Help I'm invested with lady bugs.
my reef aquarium is in my basement a beautiful site I must add sorry I'm back. Some how the ladies are getting in my basement and in to my aquarium I know they are attracted to the lights. over the last month I noticed 1 or 2 now 3,4,5 daily what can i do short of bombing my basement with a insectaside <<spelling spray, powder or something help help help


DeVille

 

[antwood]

You can buy a big fish that will eat them.

But more than likely you will have to do what I did this last fall.
Which was to buy some screen and enclose the canopy with it. Seal it up good.

Then find out where they are coming from and seal it up.

PS I would not use any sprays, at least not with all of the windows closed.

Ant

 

[DLBerlin]

Last night my hydnophora ate one
It has grown right up to the top of the water and there was a ladybug floating there. It had spit guts out and when I tried to get the bug out and it pulled it in.

 

[wingsfan]

Its an invasion I tell you, the damm things are all over the place.

 

[skylergirl]

Gawd...that really stinks!

I hate ladybugs. Nobody believes me, but they do bite and DO DRAW BLOOD. I've been bitten by them!

Whatever you do, do not use any sort of pesticide to bomb your basement. Your tank will go down with it too.

Do some research on the web. Maybe there is some sort of of herbal trap you can set up to phycially get them contained and then dispose of them any way you like. Fire, for instance! LOL

Look at all your windows inside and out. Use caulk on the inside and outside to reseal. They are getting in somehow. It is your job to find out how.

If you let this continue, the may breed INSIDE your basement and then you'll NEVER be rid of them!

Good luck!

 

[joedelt]

killer lady bugs

good lady bugs dont bit....its those from the other side of the tracks....

there are several species of bugs that look similar. true lady bugs dont bite at all. i believe its one of japanise origin that is a nipper. we have them all over campus. they swarm as the cold weater closes in. i've never seen that happen in th spring...but who's to tell.

just for reference, the only way to tell them apart is to see if they bite or look at the spot layout.

/john
partime entomologist(wannabe anyway )

 

[skylergirl]

Try this website: http://www.bugspray.com/articles98/ladybugs.html

The ladybug traps, the KILLING one (hee..hee) looks pretty good! If you decide to order, let me know. I might get some with you

 

[Skippy_electrician]

It is the asain ;ady bugs that do the biting, accually they pinch exposed skin. The "good" lady bugs have nine spots on them and the asain have 19, but are sometimes not visable. Although they are quite the pest they do do good for the garden and such. Best thing you could do is try and find the entry point into the house and seal it up. Yoou could also spray a chemical with pyrethroids in it, or that may be the chem I'm not sure. I have had them all over me when I worked at the Mayflower hotel in plymouth when they rebuilt it, they filled the walls that were lite by sun.

 

[ofblong]

like stated above check your windows on the outside. How old is your house? I had an invasion and noticed lots of holes around my windows(newer windows to). anyways I calked all the way around the windows and I no longer have them in the amounts they were there.

 

[Specialk]

I have these little buggers also right now, only noticing 2 - 3 a day right now. I seen a few in my house through out the winter.



Kaye

 

[dcook]

lady bug

My home is 6yrs old, and thanks skylergirl for the never ending web site lol. I've only been bite by one ladybug and I married her. sorry back to subject at hand I guess i'll have to do some research outside of MR you guys are to funny but if anyone has an idea real idea shoot me a pm

 

[ofblong]

oh I should also mention that you should check your attic vents. make sure there is a screen on them and that it is not torn or anything. they may be getting in through there.

 

[AquaFilly]

I believe I read an article on the biting lady bugs somewhere. They’re actually called Egyptian Sand Beetles. The faded red/light orange ones are the beetles. I’ve never been bitten by the red lady bugs, but the orange ones bite for blood! Oh and I thought you can’t judge lady bug species by the dots, because they all grow dots as they age.

 

[Skippy_electrician]

Not sure about the dots. I just read the article and it said the red red bugs are the "nice" ones and they have 9 spots, and that the orangish ones with 19 are the mean ones. It goes on to say that there have been over 130 different species introduced to the us and 24 have been able to thrive and that they all have different marking, or spot patterns on them.

 

[cmpenney]

Glue traps work well, the type that you buy for catching mice. Stick them near your tank and in the corners where the little pains seem to collect.

 

[eelman]

Harmonia axyridis

Most are not lady bugs, they are the Asian lady beetles, Harmonia Axyridis, a 'wind tunnel' type vacuum cleaner works the best, the turbulence inside will kill then with out the smell. If you use a shop vac and they survive, they can crawl out. I would not use 'bug sprays', they are toxic to your fish. The mammalian toxicity of natural pyrethrins is generally low. Organophosphates are also less toxic to mamals then bugs and fish. Fish do not have the mammalian blood-brain barrier protection, with makes 'bug sprays' highly toxic to fish.
That leaves you with just a few choices, vacuum, 'fly paper' type sticky traps or crush them.

 

[skylergirl]

I would definately find out the source of entry now. It will only get worse as the weather warms up. The pheremones will start to attrack more and more and they will start to swarm.

Check those windows!

They were swarming the side of my house last year. I got an exterminator, but it didn't seem to help for more than the initial application.

 

[eelman]

asian lady beetles

If you get the Ann Arbor News, there was a article one Tuesday March 16, 2004 on the bugs.

 

[cmpenney]

They haven't been that bad at my place. At least I thought. I just pulled the pump for my UV Sterilizer and the screen was 3/4 plugged with lady bug parts!

 

[Ocellaris]

I have the exact same problem, I spent the better part of the day trying to find out where they were coming in at. Then it occured to me, they are coming in through my sump pipe. I pulled off the cover and sure enough, a ton of them. I took care of them and then bought a small piece of plastic screen from the store and covered the drain. We will see if that works.