The little devil bugs

[lawnboy]

The Lady Bugs are back in full force again this year....I see thousands every day on the beach...........and they BITE!
For some reason they like to sit on the sea weed in the morning............why you got me.

[Neal]

I've seen the same thing up in Lexington, 1000's of the little buggers on the beach. People told me they bit, I didn't believe them until one got me.

Neal

[tmb]

I read that the ones that bite are a recent introduction from east Asia and that they are breeding with and wiping out the native species that does not bite and we all enjoyed having in our gardens.

[shooter921]

Killer Lady bugs? I didn't know that any lady bug would bite. I see them all over the place on our practice field.

80

[islaysteelies]

Last year up at the farm I hunt they were every where...When I would get out the truck to get ready to hunt they would swarm me...I was just up there and didn't see sign of any...Is there some sort of migration, or do they always stay in the same place?

[Steve]

They are all over the place in our back yard. Do these things really bite?

[Will Fish 4 Food]

Yup, they bite. I got bit on the back of the neck last week. I haven't seen as many this year as last yet, but they are starting to get in my house!

[Tom222]

Six years ago, we built our home back in the woods. Each fall we have hoards of them attaching themselves to the house. In the winter we find thousands in the basement behind the insulation between the rafters. I use a putty knife to scoop them into a bucket. They also congregate in my bedroom. Each night my wife has to inspect the bed to make sure there are none between the sheets.
I have no idea how they get in. The windows are shut and locked.
Any ideas on deterring them would be appreciated.

[wiginton]

tmb,

I have seen so many lady bugs this year, more than I can remember. Yes they do bite, and seem to be colored differently, than the lady bugs from years before. Maybe your info about the introduction of Asian lady bugs is correct.

[Steve in MI]

Thanks for the info on the biting lady bugs . Too late though I was showing my daughter a few and I let here hold two. She asked me if they would bite I told here no and no sooner thatn that one bit her. I have never been bit by on but I held a few more to show here that it really didn't bite here and I got bit. Well I looked like a dumb *****. She is 6 so now she won't beleive anything I say. :confused:

[lawnboy]

I'm starting to see fewer ones now.

[Firetiger]

Don't qoute me but a bear guide i used last year told me the ones with eight spots on them are the ones the state released to help the farmers fight Aphids,I've seen them from the tip of the upper to lake mich shoreline to the detroit river,and baby they bite,

[$Big Pimpin$]

Yeah they were genetically engineered to eat aphids and ummm those purple things I think there called locusts but Im not sure.

[Jackone]

I don't know which ones bite but I got bit by them over the weekend. OUCH!

[midwestfisherman]

The lady bugs that have become so prolific in the past couple of years here are actually the "multicolored asian lady beetle" They were first introduced into this country down south in the pecan groves to help control the aphids on the pecan trees.
The reason there are so many now is because, unlike our normal lady bug these live on average 3 to 4 years and lay eggs several times per year. They have no natural enemy in this area of the country yet. There is a parasite that does kill them that has recently shown up in the south and is making its way north. Another reason for their high number is a recent discovery of a new type of aphid that grows by the thousands on a single soy bean plant, thus giving these little buggers a virtually unlimited food supply.
They do bite, but it is actually more of a pinch as opposed to a bite say, like a mosquito or a horse fly. They're not looking to draw blood.
To dispell a couple of rumors about these bugs. Contrary to what is being said, they have not been released by MSU, the State of Michigan or the DNR. They simply have migrated up this way from the south.
The souce of my information is an entemologist from MSU and the Agriculture extention in my area.

[jimbos43]

When I get up to my trailer for deer hunting in November, fire up the furnace, an hour later i'll have 45 of them walking the ceiling. I better get them all before the oldlady gets there for Thanksgiving.