I live in Northeast US and we've had a wet fall and mild winter.Problem is ladybugs and some sort of small gnat indoors.A few people I talked too also have same problem.Does anyone else have this? Did weather cause it? Where did they come from? How do I solve this problem? Any help would greatly be appreciated.Thankyou
[snip]
I'd not worry too much about the ladybugs; they're a beneficial predator and, while annoying to have them invading your personal space, will keep down any aphid invasions and a myriad of other pests.
The gnats, depending on where you're finding them (cupboard, fruit bowl, hanging vegetable sorter, sponge at the back of the sink, or even outside) can be controlled by finding their "food" base. Once you are able to locate that base, control will be easy with any OTC pesticide. Capture some and bring them down to your local nursery so their employees can see what you're trying to eradicate.
If you have a LARGE outside area that is not draining properly and is the source of these gnats, you'll need to remove the standing water and cover the detritus that they're feeding on. Long-term, you'll have to work on bettering the downward flow of water so that at the next rain, the same thing doesn't happen again. (Hopefully you don't have water draining back towards your house. That's going to run into big dollars.)
The Ranger
True IF they're ladybugs. What we have here in Wisconsin are large infestations of Japanese Beetles. They look alot like ladybugs, but they're NOT. They bite, stink, and leave little brown marks. They come out every sunny day when the temperature is above 40. The only way to get rid of them is to vacuum them up.
peggo
I don't see the similarities, except that they both have exoskeletons.
Japanese Beetles
Ladybug
Here are a couple helpful links on their differences, too.
That was a low blow, Ranger. You know very well that "Japanese Beetles" is what Peggo, Nan, and the other good people of Wisconsin call Asian Lady Beetles. They have infested much of the country and invade houses on warm days in cool weather. What defense is there but a caulk gun?
You and AL MAL have trolled Peggo into this terrible flame war and I predict she'll make you regret it.
Sincerely, Choreboy
You have a low threshhold for understanding here too.
A quick search reveals the same information and similar images... So, again, you're lowing that threshhold of understanding to even lower levels. Whatever floats that dingy you strand yourself in with such regularity.
FOaD.
The Ranger
Dick.
You must be psychic.
peggo
peggo wrote to Choreboy in message news:420549b9$1 snipped-for-privacy@newspeer2.tds.net... [snip drivel and dreck]
He's psychotic but not psychic. Just as you give yourself too much credit for simple reading comprehension.
The Ranger
-- Nothing which was ever expressed originally in the English language resembles, except in the most distant way, the thought of Plotinus, or Hegel, or Foucault. I take this to be enormously to the credit of our language. -- David Stove
Guys please I just wanted a simple answer,its a ladybug and not a japanese beetle.Just wondering why this winter,never had them before,and same true with little gnat like insects,never had them before,but must get rid of them.Thankyou
The extra moisture might account for the sudden bonanza of insect life. Someone might also have purchased a few thousand ladybugs for pest control and your yard (and home) is now benefiting by offering them the perfect smorgasbord.
Are they interior or exterior pests?
The Ranger
Let me be the first to accept your apology. It's really Ranger's fault, not yours. To hear him talk you'd think Wisconsin was a cretin colony. He'll have to pay the piper when Nan finds out.
The ladybugs are Asian lady beetles. You haven't seen them before because they are new in America. Unlike other lady beetle species, they mass for hibernation. When they sun warms the wall of a house in autumn, they collect and look for a way in. They do no harm except that on warm days some may wake up and crawl into your living space. They don't sting or carry disease.
If you can't stand them, vacuuming works. In some states it's illegal to spray lady beetles. If it's legal, pyrethrin sprays are the most effective. However, even if you spray through a crack into the space where they are hybernating, spray is unlikely to kill a hybernating beetle. That means more will probably appear on the next warm day.
Caulking interior cracks may keep them out of your living space. Caulking exterior holes in summer may keep them out of your walls.
The gnats are probably fungus gants. Do you have indoor plants? The gnats eat the fungi that grow in moist organic matter such as potting soil. If you let the soil dry out between waterings, that will kill fungi and gnats. These gnats can also be controlled with pyrethrin spray or pheromone traps.
Sincerely, Choreboy
Yes, my house has ladybugs--more than I can recall in any winter. They find cracks to enter the house as they hide in tree bark to overwinter. I'm careful not to crush them as they can stain and stink. I vacuum the entire house twice weekly and use the crevice attachment to suck up the critters that usually congregate around the window frames during sunny days. We had swarms of ladybugs outdoors last fall, so many that they crawl into clothing--and they can bite. They seem to be most active in the afternoon, outdoors and indoors. My advice is to regularly vacuum them up, and the remaining will be gone in the spring. Resist the use of insecticide.
Ladybug! Ladybug! Fly away home. Your house is on fire. And your children all gone.
All except one, And that's little Ann, For she crept under The frying pan.
-> I live in Northeast US and we've had a wet fall and mild winter.Problem is
-> ladybugs and some sort of small gnat indoors.A few people I talked too also
-> have same problem.Does anyone else have this? Did weather cause it? Where did
-> they come from? How do I solve this problem? Any help would greatly be
-> appreciated.Thankyou
It apparently happens a lot. It has been discussed in detail on news:alt.consumers.pest-control . I have ladybugs in my house this winter, and had them last winter, as well.
Please remember that ladybugs are a very beneficial insect. Don't kill them if you don't absolutely have to. Capture and release!
Thanks!
Unless you leave the bag in rather than take it straight out to the garbage.
Yes, often because I am one of those gardeners that likes to use them for predation of aphids. It's not unusual to find them in some unusual places during the Spring, Summer and Fall around (inside) Castle Ranger. I also use printer paper to scoop up misplaced ladybugs.
Easy yes; beneficial to your yard, no.
The Ranger
Well I did get the name wrong. Sorry. Don't know about Nan, but lots of Wisconsin folks could pass for cretins.
peggo a Wisconsin Cretin.
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