1:07 AM [03 Nov 2006 | Friday] |
Trick or Treat, No Ladybugs? |
Every fall signals the great ladybug migration from the outdoors into your house, your hair, your beverages. For the last 9 years we have had Asian Ladybug infestations of amazing proportions, the majority of them crawling and bouncing around on the inside window of our front sliding door, which receives all day sun. The first time this happened I freaked out, spraying them with Raid, which did nothing but fill my lungs with a great toxic cloud Iím sure shortened my life by about two years. The Asian ladybugs? No problem. They continued their repetitive little dance on the sliding door. So since then instead of flying into a murderous rage, I calmly and methodically disappear them with the vacuum. This is the scenario, my wife calls downstairs and says the number of ladybugs is reaching day of the trifids proportions and I come up with the mighty Hoover and suck the foul tasting creatures in the bag (I think they taste like sour celery). Iíve read that to keep the smell out of the vacuum, you should put some kind of net in the hose of the vacuum and remove them, not me. I just methodically scoop the little pests with the same sense of accomplishment I'm sure one gets from killing zombies in a computer game. Itís a hollow victory because as anyone whoís ever done this knows, ten minutes later, like the tribbles on the Starship Enterprise, theyíre back. But for a short while, you can really feel like youíre making a difference.
The Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis) is not a native insect, thousands were intentionally released in the 1970ís and early 1980ís to control insects that injure trees. Itís also known as the Halloween ladybug because October 31 is approximately when they move into U.S. houses. Itís proven to be such an effective eater of aphids that many farmers have stopped using pesticides to kill them. Unfortunately it has also crowded out native ladybug populations (In New York the nine spotted ladybug is the state insect and it hasnít been seen for years) and it disrupts domestic bliss, scaring one and all, especially my late Mother who viewed their presence with fear and disgust.
But this summer I noticed something different, native ladybugs. My wife and I often argued about ladybugs this past summer (among other things), I claimed I was seeing more of the natives, she said I was crazy. I said what does my sanity have to do with it? And we were off and running.
Which brings me the point. This fall we had no Asian ladybugs clouding our front door slider. Last fall, when I moved the firewood from under the deck into the woodshed for the winter, I found thousands of them hiding in the nooks and crannies of the wood. This year, nothing. They were not there. My unfounded non-scientific theory? This past spring we had a horrifying invasion of tent worm caterpillars. They were everywhere. People were fleeing their homes in terror because of the ubiquitous writhing presence of these leaf munching monsters. For the first time in our valley, they denuded the trees in big swaths of the forest. Similar to the great fall ladybug killing sprees, folks were doing anything and everything to kill, kill, kill them. Nature is so much fun. I barely had to rake any leaves because they ate them all and the leaves that came back midseason were tiny. Could that have anything to do with what I think is the emergence of native ladybugs and the depletion of the Halloween ladybug? Asian Ladybugs feed on aphids and soft bodied insects that live in trees. No leaves, no aphids, no aphids, nothing for the asian ladybugs to eat. Nothing to eat, population thins. Native species not so crowded out and starts to rebound. Just my unscientific observation, no more.
In any event this Thanksgiving when I turn on the recessed lights over the dining room table, Iím looking forward to an Asian ladybug free turkey.
Hereís a link for more info about the Asian Lady Beetle.
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hse-fact/1030.html
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