By DoMyOwn staff
Asian Lady Beetles are overwintering pests that can try to enter your home in the fall to find a warm place to survive the winter. You can get rid of them by using a liquid insecticide, an insecticide dust, and maintaining your home properly.
Asian lady beetles are a species of ladybug that can be a nuisance in your home even in the winter. These orange bugs with black spots are overwintering pests, meaning they reproduce outside and try to enter homes in the fall as temperatures drop, to find a warm place to survive the winter. Once they are inside, they can leave an orange stain on walls that emits an unpleasant odor.
Preventing Asian lady beetles is the best defense against them. You should spray a preventative insecticide before you see them outside. Ideally, you should spray from the end of August to before the first freeze on a monthly basis. Treatment timing will vary depending on your location.
Preventative applications should focus on the parts of the home that receive the most sun, as these are the areas they will congregate. Normally, this is the southwest and west facing portions of a house, but if they are in your home you also have options to get rid of them. Both solutions begin with an insecticide treatment.
When you first see Asian Lady Beetles outside your home in the fall, select an insecticide labeled for Asian Lady Beetles and mix with water in a hand pump or backpack sprayer. First add half the recommended amount of water, then the amount of insecticide needed according to the product label, then finally the remaining amount of water. Replace the sprayer lid and shake thoroughly to agitate.
Spray the insecticide around the cracks and crevices of your home, including around door and window frames, where utility pipes enter the home, beneath appliances and sinks, in the corners of rooms, and where baseboards meet the wall.
Outdoors, spray up and out from the foundation of your home, around door and window frames, beneath eaves and soffits, and where utility pipes and wires enter the home.
Insecticide dust is also a great second defense against Asian Lady Beetles and can be used with liquid insecticides.
Fill a hand bellow duster halfway with insecticide dust, then screw the lid on tight and turn the duster upside down. Apply 1-2 puffs of dust around door and window frames, beneath appliances, in wall voids behind outlets, in the corners of attics and closets, where pipes enter the wall, and in the cracks and crevices of rooms. Do not apply more than 1-2 puffs in each application area as too much dust will render your treatment ineffective.
If you see Asian Lady Beetles inside your home, a vacuum is the most effective way to get rid of the pests, especially compared to a broom which can crush the pests, releasing a smelly, staining liquid.
Be sure to empty the vacuum into a trash bag, seal the bag, then place the trash bag into an outside garbage bin immediately after vacuuming up the pests.
Consult the label of any insecticide used during your treatment for how much product to use, where to use, and how often to reapply. Be sure to wear personal protective equipment, including gloves and long-sleeves, when using insecticide.
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