Ladybirds

[Ramy]

Does anyone else in the area have a major ladybird problem??

We've just moved into the area and we have hundreds of them!!

[sanity girl]

Yes, they invade my house over the winter - they get through the window fittings (gaps between frame and casing - need replacing but I'm only a tenant...) I hoover them up mercilessly, then wipe with vinegar or multi-surface cleaner where they have been clumping together to get rid of their scent and discourage them from accumulating there again. Now it's warm if you open your windows they should soon find their way outside again.

[Sue]

sanity girl Wrote:

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> I hoover them up mercilessly,

:(

Ladybirds don't do any harm. In fact they eat aphids which damage plants in the garden. They are heroes, not villains!

[ladyruskin]

I'll gladly take some off your hands! We've got a sage plant that is kept indoors which is covered in greenfly!

[sanity girl]

Sue and ladyruskin - they are the "bad" invading Harlequin ladybirds - http://www.harlequin-survey.org/factfile/concern.htm I have come to hate them and they really stink when disturbed. Anyway, most of them have gone now as spring has come and they've decided it's warm enough to head outside again and maraud our native species, but next winter honestly if you want to come to my house each week and take them away you are very welcome.

[Earl Aelfheah]

.

[jimbo1964]

We're always riddled with them.

[Sue]

sanity girl Wrote:

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> Sue and ladyruskin - they are the "bad" invading

> Harlequin ladybirds -

xxxxxx

Oh, OK, I take it all back - hoover away :))

[fl0wer]

Killing things by hoovering them = cruel. A slow death by suffocation.

If you have to kill a thing just crush it quickly. For preference set it free outdoors instead.

The hibernators in your pic were 'harlequins'.

Picture gallery, FYI. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2013/jul/22/ladybird-species-harlequin-uk-insects

Invertebrates generally are an important layer of the food chain which humans have been damaging so it is worth doing the research.

[El Pibe]

Groundhog day.

Afix stocking over hoover nozzle, release live ladybirds outside.

[Sue]

fl0wer Wrote:

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> If you have to kill a thing just crush it quickly.

> For preference set it free outdoors instead.

xxxxx

I think sanitygirl (I keep misreading that as sanitarygirl :)) ) didn't want to set them free outdoors because they are predators of "good" ladybirds?

[The Minkey]

I spotted over 40 of them on a single plant in my garden, all different varieties madly mating with each other.

[steveo]

They aren't coming in from outside, they are hibernating in your curtains and door/window frames

[El Pibe]

Sue Wrote:

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> fl0wer Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

>

> > If you have to kill a thing just crush it

> quickly.

> > For preference set it free outdoors instead.

>

> xxxxx

>

> I think sanitygirl (I keep misreading that as

> sanitarygirl :)) ) didn't want to set them free

> outdoors because they are predators of "good"

> ladybirds?

Sue, the lovechild of David Bellamy and UKIP!!