Topic: Asian Lady Beetles

[cassiopeiae]

Wasn't sure where to post, since there is no place for Entomology  ;D

These little buggers have been such a annoyance this year, and contrary to popular scientific belief (from the site below and elsewhere)...they do bite, and these bites itch!  They're just so cute though ;D until the 3 or four hanging around turn into hundreds.

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http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/asianladybeetle.html

The Asian lady beetle, Harmonia asyridis

The Asian lady beetle, sometimes known as the Halloween lady beetle or the Japanese lady beetle, is a yellow-orange ladybug that is often seen in large congregations near the end of October. As many as several thousand adult beetles have been found congregating outside on windows, doors, porch decks, etc., often getting indoors as well and creating a nuisance. The beetle is native to Japan. The Asian lady beetle does not bite, sting, carry human diseases or feed on wood, clothing or food; they also do not reproduce indoors. In spite of annoying populations, these insects are considered beneficial to agriculture and garden landscapes because they feed on harmful aphids and some scale insects associated with trees, shrubs, bushes, low growing ornamentals, roses, wheat, cotton, tobacco, pecans and other crops.

Description:

Adult Asian lady beetles are oval, about 6 mm (1/4 inch) long, and range in color from yellow to orange to red, with or without black spots on the wing covers. The number of spots varies drastically, ranging from zero to at least twenty. The spots are sometimes reddish in color. The head is usually concealed from above and the white pronotum (top covering of middle body part) generally has a black "M"-like shape. The larvae are elongate, somewhat flattened and covered with minute spines. Eggs are yellow, oval shaped and laid upright in clusters of about 20, usually on the undersides of leaves.

Life Cycle:

Usually the life cycle from egg to adult requires three to four weeks during cool spring weather. Eggs hatch in three to five days. Larvae feed on aphids, scale or other insects for 12 to 14 days. Pupation lasts five to six days until adults emerge. The adult stage is the longest with some beetles living up to two to three years. It is believed that females overwinter unmated with the aggregate population of both males and females mating later in the spring. Most beetles are reported in October and November when congregating to find overwintering sites, and again in February and March during bright, warm, sunny days, as they attempt to return to their outdoor habitat. Adults release a pheromone that attracts other lady beetles of the same species; when one beetle lands, many others soon follow.

History:

This lady beetle, a tree-dwelling species, was introduced from eastern Asia and released by USDA as a biological control agent in many states between 1977 and 1981. These releases apparently did not result in establishment. The beetle was first recovered in Abita Springs, Louisiana in 1988. This population apparently entered the United States from an Asian freighter docked in New Orleans. The beetle was found in Georgia and Mississippi in 1990; it has since moved throughout the Northeast and into some western states as well. The exotic Asian lady beetle has had a positive impact in many states because of the beetle's effectiveness in controlling aphids on pecan trees, pine trees, ornamental shrubs, cotton, wheat, tobacco, roses, etc. Moreover, nuisance populations may decrease with time; recent research conducted in North Carolina indicates that as much as 25% of the Asian lady beetle populations has been parasitized by a tachinid fly. Such parasites are also found in Rhode Island, indicating that the lady beetle population here may decline in the future as well.

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Lady bug Facts

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atrium/5924/ladybugfacts.htm

There are nearly  5,000 different kinds of ladybugs worldwide and 400  which live in North  America. 

A female  ladybug will lay more than 1000 eggs in her lifetime.

A ladybug  beats its wings 85 times a second when it flies.

Aphids are  a ladybug's favorite food. 

Ladybugs  chew from side to side and not up and down like people do.

A gallon  jar will hold from 72,000 to 80,000 ladybugs.

Ladybugs  make a chemical that smells and tastes terrible so that birds and  other predators won't eat them.

If you  squeeze a ladybug it will bite you, but the bite won't hurt.

The spots  on a ladybug fade as the ladybug gets older.

During hibernation, ladybugs  feed on their stored fat.

Ladybugs  won't fly if the temperature is below 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

The ladybug  is the official state insect of Delaware, Massachusetts, New  Hampshire, Ohio, and Tennessee.

The male  ladybug is usually smaller than the female.

The Asian  Lady Beetle can live up to 2-3 years if the conditions are right.

[Astronuc]

Orstio mentioned he was bitten by one (see comment under Ladybug thread).  I never knew they bit.

We have thousands of ladybugs who hibernate under the siding of our house.  They are supposed to hiberate underneath the bark of trees - but somehow they prefer the house.

They are certainly welcome in my garden anytime.   ;D

[Charity]

I had so many of them last year, that I had to sweep piles{1,000's} of them away after the first hard frost. My cat tried its best to keep up with the ones indoors, but I ended up useing fly paper strands in the windows to catch them.
And yes I was bite by several, it didn't break the skin, but it was a sharp little pinch :033102unsmile_1_prv.gif: