Also known as the Halloween beetle
and just as a ladybug, Asian lady beetles would die if they were
exposed to the kind of deep-freeze chill expected in Georgia
this week. Fortunately, most won’t be exposed to it.

“Most of them are hunkered down in
some kind of shelter now,”
Braman said. “Insects are tough. They survive a lot better than
we sometimes think they do.”

Braman said Asian lady beetles
are “especially interesting,” and
particularly valuable to homeowners, because they feed on aphids
that attack woody plants.

“They attack the aphids eating your
pecans and crepe myrtles,”
she said. “They even attack aphids on roses. So many of the other
lady beetles don’t eat the aphids that attack woody
plants.”

Getting
warm

The lady bugs can become a nuisance,
though. “Some people report
that the insects have bitten them. That is fairly unusual,”
Braman said. “But most people don’t like the insects in their
homes.”

People see ladybugs more during warm
spells. “As we see some
fluctuation in the temperature, we’re going to see more activity
from these insects,” she said. “They get out and move around,
looking for shelter and trying to get warm.”

Windowsills and ceiling vents are
popular places for the beetles
to congregate. They’re sometimes also found in large numbers in
attics or in light fixtures.

Getting them
out

If enough of them get into your
house, Braman said the best way
to get them out is to suck them up in the vacuum
cleaner.

“We have to remember that they do
have a yellow hemolymph,” she
said. “That’s just insect blood, but it can stain the walls or
furniture if we’re not careful.”

It’s hard to keep lady beetles from
getting in at all.

“It’s tricky to try to keep them
out,” Braman said. “They can fit
through the smallest hole. Try to seal windows to keep them out.
Seal around any holes you find in windows.”

Try to save
them

If they’re lingering on porches,
sweep them into a bag, she said,
and release them far enough away from the house that they don’t
come right back in. “Better yet,” she said, “if you have woody
trees or a wood line, this would be a good place to release the
beetles safely.”

Come spring, the beetles will move
out on their own.

“As weather warms up, the lady
beetles will become active and
begin moving out, searching for aphids to feed on,” Braman said.
“Because they don’t feed in the winter, they’re more than willing
to exit your home and move on, protecting your ornamental
plants.”

Braman describes the insects as
an “unwelcome winter guest that
stays too long to suit us.” But she urges people to remember that
they do good things.

“Lady beetles are one of our primary
beneficial insects,” she
said. “They feed on aphids, scale insects and mealybugs — those
are some of the most important pests of ornamental plants — so
we should conserve these beneficial insects.”

(April Reese is a student writer with the University of
Georgia
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)