Look out for the Lady Beetles!

When I got home the other day, my front porch was overrun with ladybugs (multi-colored Asian lady beetles). I went to my mother’s house to pick up my children and her house was overrun with the pesky little beetles as well. I wondered what caused such a sudden outburst of ladybugs and my mom said that it was because the farmers in the area were cutting soybeans. When I asked her why that had anything to do with the beetles, she wasn’t sure of the answer. She just heard that when farmers cut soybeans, it disturbs the ladybugs. However, it did seem weird to me that there was a huge correlation that the farmers in the area were cutting soybeans and suddenly there are tons of ladybugs.

I decided to do some brief research and ask a few different people and I found out that ladybugs control the aphids on soybeans. Now it all made sense! When the farmers cut the soybeans it obviously disturbs the ladybugs and that is why they are all over my front porch.

The ladybug in not a native to North America and was originally brought over from Australia to control aphids on orange trees and other crops. The ladybug has no natural predator in the United States and that is why there are so many of them. They also have some sort of mechanism in their bodies that keep them from freezing. I was told that if you put a ladybug in water completely submerged, froze it, and then let it de-thaw naturally, the little beetle would de thaw and crawl away. I may have to try this.

For more information on the Multi-colored Asian Lady Beetles, click here.