Ladybugs

[Lily left the valley]

Note from site admin: The initial posts on this thread have been moved out of another thread elsewhere

Lily, I don't think insects would be much of an issue because once they got past the storm window they'd have nowhere to go.

Tell that to the ladybugs that show up in our upstairs bathroom in whatever is the first true warm stretch of the year like clockwork each year. I cannot find an obvious hole anywhere they might be coming through. I thought I was clear that I meant that for the screens, not the storms. Maybe I thought it, but didn't write it.

[heartwood]

ugh, the detested bugs!! in two different houses in two different towns I have had ladybugs, flies and wasps...they spend the window within the framing...on a sunny day in the winter, they will emerge for a day or two...during the spring months into summer, I leave my vac out because they are ever present...everyone around here has them...the lady bugs are orange and black and are not native...red and black ladybugs are native...

I do not like bugs AT ALL!!
and there you have it.......
....jade

[Manalto]

Lily, if you have window pockets, clean them out with a vacuumed and a spay a little bit of insecticide in the pockets. We had a major infestation of lady bugs every spring for the first few years. Now we have no bug problems.

Lily, this is just about everyone's solution to controlling insects, beneficial or otherwise, and the reason I have pretty much given up trying.

[Manalto]

ugh, the detested bugs!! in two different houses in two different towns I have had ladybugs, flies and wasps...they spend the window within the framing...on a sunny day in the winter, they will emerge for a day or two...during the spring months into summer, I leave my vac out because they are ever present...everyone around here has them...the lady bugs are orange and black and are not native...red and black ladybugs are native...

I do not like bugs AT ALL!!
and there you have it.......
....jade

Lily, if you have window pockets, clean them out with a vacuumed and a spay a little bit of insecticide in the pockets. We had a major infestation of lady bugs every spring for the first few years. Now we have no bug problems.

Lily, here are just about everyone's solutions to controlling insects, beneficial or otherwise, and why I have pretty much given up trying.

[Lily left the valley]

To everyone that offered advice, thank you. I will try to look into the pockets and maybe spray a bit with a vinegar water mix in case it is the hormone along attracting them. It will depend on what I find. I'm sure the pockets desperately need a cleaning anyhoo. Those I haven't touched the ones in that window yet.

Lily, here are just about everyone's solutions to controlling insects, beneficial or otherwise, and why I have pretty much given up trying.

I understand. I laugh my butt off every year at the guy that sprays for ticks. No one else near him does. So I'm sure it still curbs them, but I also know the chemicals used kill other bugs as well.

One of the reasons I was excited for finding a free aquarium is I was thinking maybe I could put the ladybugs in there until the weather warms up so I know they won't die when released from cold. It's big enough I could have some plants in there for them to eat. (I do know the difference between the local and the visitors.)

[Mick_VT]

One of the reasons I was excited for finding a free aquarium is I was thinking maybe I could put the ladybugs in there until the weather warms up so I know they won't die when released from cold. It's big enough I could have some plants in there for them to eat. (I do know the difference between the local and the visitors.)

Most of the pest ladybugs round here are the Asian invasive species. They swarm looking for hibernation spots in the late fall - that's when they come in the house. IMO they should not be saved

https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef416

[Lily left the valley]

One of the reasons I was excited for finding a free aquarium is I was thinking maybe I could put the ladybugs in there until the weather warms up so I know they won't die when released from cold. It's big enough I could have some plants in there for them to eat. (I do know the difference between the local and the visitors.)

Most of the pest ladybugs round here are the Asian invasive species. They swarm looking for hibernation spots in the late fall - that's when they come in the house. IMO they should not be saved

https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef416

As I noted, Mick...I know the difference between the two. Native ladybirds are known for winding up indoors as well. It's just that sometimes folks forget that because the non locals are often outcompeting the locals so all they seem to notice is the orange variant.

[Mick_VT]

As I noted, Mick...I know the difference between the two. Native ladybirds are known for winding up indoors as well. It's just that sometimes folks forget that because the non locals are often outcompeting the locals so all they seem to notice is the orange variant.

Fair enough... and by the way, if they are hibernating they dont need anything to eat - just a cool, not to dry place apparently most of the ones that make it in the house die from dehydration over the winter. Maybe you can put them in a tupperware with breathing holes and place it in the basement?

[Lily left the valley]

Fair enough... and by the way, if they are hibernating they dont need anything to eat - just a cool, not to dry place apparently most of the ones that make it in the house die from dehydration over the winter. Maybe you can put them in a tupperware with breathing holes and place it in the basement?

I was wondering about the food part because the ones I've seen have woken up when we had a warm spell in winter (like when it hovered near then hit 71° in February before it plummeted back to normal.)

I picked this up from a freebie Craig's List ad to use for Monarch Guardianship. Will probably work just as well for ladybugs since their season doesn't coincide. Good idea about putting them in the cellar for moisture. Thanks for that.

[Manalto]

As long as we're straying off topic, I have to mention...

Ever since a friend asked me to help her get out of the habit of using the word "actually" (for which I have given her sarcastic thanks for my heightened awareness of this plague on the English language), I hear it peppering every conversation and monologue (the British are the worst offenders) and it's almost always unnecessary. For example, in Gardner's weather records, why is "actual temp" better than "temp"? Along with "actual hi" and "actual lo" - as opposed to what? Imagined? I wonder why this has caught on so powerfully - it's everywhere - and also hope this complaint makes others acutely aware of this current trend of rampant over-use of "actual" and "actually" because misery loves company.

OK, rant over.

Temperature and bugs - they're not really (I didn't say actually, although I could have, properly) off topic, since they're a big part of a window's existence. Too much of a stretch?

I am braced for replies that, in a feeble attempt at humor, profusely use the word.