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The ladybugs that plague Pennsylvania homeowners during the fall and winter months will soon be migrating from trees and fields into houses, according to the Department of Agriculture.
"Originally introduced in the southeastern states as a biological control agent, the multicolored Asian lady beetle has spread from orchard settings to fields and forests," said Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff. "After populations spread northward through Pennsylvania, the ladybugs now invade homes in large numbers during the fall. Unfortunately, once inside they are unwelcome as ladybugs have an unpleasant odor; stain walls, draperies and furniture; crawl on people; drop into food; and occasionally bite."
Ladybugs feed in trees and agricultural crops during the summer months, where they eat tiny plant-feeding insects called aphids. In the fall, when field crops die off and trees lose their leaves, the aphid populations drop dramatically, and the ladybugs have nothing to eat. At this point, they leave the trees and fields and fly to buildings, where they congregate in large numbers on warm walls and rooftops. When temperatures drop at night, these beetles crawl into cracks and crevices, eventually getting into interior walls and attics.
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