# Lady Bug, Lady Bug...fly away home



## Don M. (Nov 2, 2017)

We have some really nice weather today...temps in the mid 70's...so I got out early to catch up on my outdoor chores.  Suddenly, right about noon, there was a massive swarm of newly hatched lady bugs...literally 10's of thousands of them, all over everything.  I had to stop and put on one of those painters masks to keep from inhaling them.  Luckily, they don't bite...just got all over me and the entire house, etc.  My wife has been going around the house with a small vacuum cleaner to suck up the bunch that slipped in when she opened the door to get the mail.  I changed clothes in the garage a little while ago, and picked off a couple dozen hitchhikers.  

Living in the boondocks is great...but once in awhile Mother Nature gives us a surprise.


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## Warrigal (Nov 2, 2017)

As a child I loved lady birds, as we called them here, and I would love to see such an extravagance of these tiny creatures. I saw just one the other day and got excited about it. They seem to be rather rare in the suburbs these days.


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## RadishRose (Nov 2, 2017)

They are good for gardens, some people even buy them from garden centers for natural pest control. They feed on aphids, small insects and eggs of other insects. I think it's was the only insect I'm not afraid of or disgusted by. 

Last week, I was picking up a few stray pieces of stone and a praying mantis moved out in front of me- I jumped a foot! I know they're harmless to humans and are purchased for gardens, too  eating live insects, including moths, mosquitoes, roaches, flies and aphids. But honestly they are so weird looking.


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## Warrigal (Nov 2, 2017)

My inner child is fascinated by all bugs. I talk to them just as I talk to the birds. Slaters are among my long list of favourites.


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## SeaBreeze (Nov 2, 2017)

I've always liked ladybugs, but I wouldn't like massive swarm like you had Don, that's for sure! mg1:  My nephew has a home in Massachusetts, and years ago he was telling my how one side of his house was literally covered in large ladybugs.  I remember this little rhyme from when I was a child. :sentimental:


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## Ruth n Jersey (Nov 2, 2017)

Every once in awhile we have swarms of them also. As a child we would get a jar and spend all evening catching them. When it was time to go in we would let them all go. I read one time that they have no idea what makes them light. I don't know if that still holds true.


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## SeaBreeze (Nov 2, 2017)

Ruth n Jersey said:


> Every once in awhile we have swarms of them also. As a child we would get a jar and spend all evening catching them. When it was time to go in we would let them all go. I read one time that they have no idea what makes them light. I don't know if that still holds true.



My older brother used to catch fireflies in a jar and watch them at night, I don't think lady bugs light up at all, but I might be wrong.  Shut the lights off in the room to see this video best.


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## JoseLindsey (Mar 24, 2018)

Even my neighbours do have swarms of lady bugs.


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## Mizzkitt (Mar 24, 2018)

Pretender Lady Bugs....We get a lot of those Asian Beetles that resemble Lady Bugs but they are nasty and they bite. And if they get in the house they multiply quickly.

https://www.thespruce.com/good-and-bad-ladybugs-2656236


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## Falcon (Mar 24, 2018)

I haven't seen a lady bug  nor a praying mantis  in YEARS.   Maybe birds eat 'em  before I get to see them.


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## Don M. (Mar 24, 2018)

Mizzkitt said:


> Pretender Lady Bugs....We get a lot of those Asian Beetles that resemble Lady Bugs but they are nasty and they bite. And if they get in the house they multiply quickly.https://www.thespruce.com/good-and-bad-ladybugs-2656236



In the past couple of weeks, we've had a bunch of these Asian Ladybugs appearing....as the weather warms.  There is one window in the basement that gets a lot of sun, and these little bugs are all over that window.  I'm keeping a small vacuum cleaner near the window, and every time I go down to the basement, I take a minute and suck up a bunch of them....probably have hundreds in the vacuum cleaner already.


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