I was about to ask whether anyone else was getting hit with swarms of ladybugs, and then I remembered this comment on the blog from Anne Sumers a few days ago:

“Are you finding an explosion of ladybugs in your house, or is this a local event at my house? Any idea how to convince them to leave, and why this happened now (and how to prevent it in the future?”

The warm, sunny weather really brought them out at my house yesterday, with the tiny orangish bugs covering a couple of sunny windows as they try to get inside for the winter. All quiet today.

I dug around in my email and found this note from Dianne Olsen at Cornell-Putnam from last March, when they emerging for spring (now it’s the reverse of course):

“Hi Bill

“I’ve received three calls from frantic homeowners (2 Putnam, 1 Westchester) about clouds of ladybugs in the house, dropping into their coffee, creating consternation.

Here’s the deal: it’s time for the Asian lady beetles to come out from their winter hibernation in the cracks of doorways and tracks of windows.

The best way to get rid of them is to use a car vac or the small-space attachment on the vacuum cleaner and then empty the bag outdoors.

They’re harmless, although Carolyn Klass, our Cornell entomologist, says they have a bad odor when you squish them.

Here’s her fact sheet: http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/chemung/publications/beetles-lady-beetles.pdf

Dianne
Dianne K. Olsen
Environmental Horticulture and Natural Resources Educator
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Putnam County
1 Geneva Rd., Brewster, NY 10509
845-278-6738”

I’ve tried this vacuuming trick. It works, but it’s tedious. Any other solutions out there, or info on where they come from?