I now hate ladybugs!

mellowyellow

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Jun 8, 2002
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oh the sweet, cute ladybug. keeps the aphids off<br />my roses and is an all around cute, loved bug.<br />well... I now HATE them!<br />each year when the weather gets cold here in NY<br />farmland, there are a few smart bugs that know<br />enough to try to come inside and hibernate for<br />the winter. always get a few swarmin flys, some<br />stinkbugs and some cute, precious ladybugs.<br />always heard if a ladybug lands on you, it's good<br />luck even... well, I have been killing them all<br />day! for unknown reasons, (big spring rains?)<br />we are infested with these now detestable creatures.<br />I am being constantly dive-bombed and getting them<br />out from between the keys on my keyboard is a real<br />nightmare!<br />ranting, sorry.<br />is it just me or is it a really bad year for bugs?<br />and for those keeping score, I have killed 22 of<br />them since about 7:30am here at my desk :p <br />and I'm not trying, just getting the bombers.<br />also ate one by mistake 2 days ago, but that's <br />more like a stupid human trick IMHO.
 

JGREGORY

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Joined
Jun 1, 2003
Messages
1,412
Re: I now hate ladybugs!

MY it isn't just you, I must have killed about about a 1,000 of the little buggers. I have a slate roof (self venting) well that design allow the little darlings to come in and make themselves at home. I also have lots of farms around the town I live in and I think that's where they come from, and then get attracted by the lights in town when it gets cooler.
 

LadyFish

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Joined
Mar 18, 2003
Messages
6,894
Re: I now hate ladybugs!

Better to kill a ladybug than a LadyFish, I always say. ;) <br /><br />Will killing these good luck bugs give you bad mojo? :eek: <br /><br />
SkippingBug.gif
 

LadyFish

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Joined
Mar 18, 2003
Messages
6,894
Re: I now hate ladybugs!

MY, STOP THE KILLING. :eek: <br /><br />LadyBug Lore<br /><br />In Europe, during the Middle Ages, insects were destroying the crops, so the Catholic farmers prayed to the Virgin Mary for help. Soon the Ladybugs came, ate the plant-destroying pests and saved the crops! The farmers began calling the ladybugs "The Beetles of Our Lady", and they eventually became known as "Lady Beetles"! The red wings represented the Virgin's cloak and the black spots represented her joys and sorrows. <br /><br /> In Sweden, folks believe that if a ladybug lands on a young maiden's hand, she will soon be getting married.<br /> If you find a ladybug in your house, count the number of spots and that is how many dollars you will soon receive.<br /> <br />In England, finding a ladybug means that you will have a good harvest.<br /><br />In France, if you are sick and a ladybug lands on you, when it flies away, it will take the sickness with it.<br /><br />If a ladybug has more than seven spots, then there will be a famine. If it has less than seven, then there will be a good harvest.<br /> <br />At one time, doctors would mash up ladybugs and put them in a cavity to cure a toothache.<br /> <br />Some people believe that the number of spots on a ladybug indicates how many children you will have.<br /> <br />AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON NOT TO KILL ANOTHER LADYBUG IS......<br /><br />If you find a ladybug in your house in the winter you will have good luck.
 

LadyFish

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Mar 18, 2003
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6,894
Re: I now hate ladybugs!

The normal life cycle of the ladybug unless it comes into contact with MY or Jgregory
swat.gif
is between four to six weeks. In the spring the adults lay up to three hundred eggs in an aphid colony. The eggs hatch in two to five days. The newly hatched larvae feed on aphids for up to three weeks, and then they enter the pupa stage. The adult ladybug emerges about a week later. However, they usually do not have their spots for their first 24 hours of adulthood. So, if you catch one in without spots, you may have found a brand new adult. There may be as many as six generations of ladybugs hatched in a year.
 

neumanns

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Messages
1,926
Re: I now hate ladybugs!

Those pesky critters are not Lady Bugs, they are Japanese Beatles. I have been told there is a diffrence I just wouldn't know what it is. They were introduced in the southern states in the late seventies I believe by the USDA to controll aphids. Be curious to know what our resident chicken egg expert knows on the subject.
 

scamper

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Sep 26, 2003
Messages
183
Re: I now hate ladybugs!

You know come to think of it, someone did say this was a very informative site. :D
 

roscoe

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Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
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Link

Rear Admiral
Joined
Apr 13, 2003
Messages
4,221
Re: I now hate ladybugs!

I used to like LadyBugs Roscoe! Next your going to tell me Santa Clause isn't real :D <br />Just came home for lunch to make a reply on a post and found MY Bashing LadyBugs.. pun intended :p
 

KennyKenCan

Commander
Joined
Aug 26, 2002
Messages
2,501
Re: I now hate ladybugs!

I think that you guys are just ganging up on these Ladybugs, by smashing and squashing them anytime you see fit.<br /><br />Well, I think that these Ladybugs must have formed a Union, and now they are conspiring on how they are going to get back at mellowyellow, jgregory, neumanns, scamper, roscoe and the rest.<br /><br />This mid-winter swarm is a warning to you guys, that the Ladybugs of the world are united, and are out to get those who keep smashing and squashing them.<br /><br />I personally have not willingly smashed or squashed a Ladybug since I was a kid, and look, there not swarming all over me.<br /><br />My home is Ladybug free.<br /><br />Trust me, the Ladybug Union will find you.<br /><br />And don't be surprised if you find one of those inflatable humans in front of your house when they strike upon your home!<br /><br /> :D :) :cool: :D
 

neumanns

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Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Messages
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Re: I now hate ladybugs!

I have been finishing off the basment (ongoing process) and sometimes when you move a piece of fiberglass batting from the rimboard where the basment upstairs meet you will find a half gallon of these critters. Out comes the shop vac, but it is amazing to me where you can find them. BRB finish later.<br /><br />There is no apperent place where they come in yet they are still there. Have done some caulking etc but it is near immpossable to stop them. The flight was not near as bad this year as some years past but they tell me they run something like a seven year cycle. If I make it onto there union blacklist so be it!!!
 

SpinnerBait_Nut

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Joined
Aug 25, 2002
Messages
17,651
Re: I now hate ladybugs!

They were brought in to, eat other insects and stuff. :D <br /><br />They live in the tops of trees, mostly oak untill the first hard frost and then they are off to find warmer places to hole up for winter.<br /><br />They have no natural enemy because nothing will eat the stinking things.<br /><br />The best way is to use the 'ol vac on them and suck them up.<br /><br />Can anyone say Hoover WindTunnel?
 

11 footer

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Joined
Nov 16, 2002
Messages
1,408
Re: I now hate ladybugs!

What spinner said,<br /><br />Two years ago I was up in Maine at my grandparnets house when them things took over. They where everywhere, we just ran around with a little dustbuster and sucked them up, it worked good.<br /><br />Never had the probem at our house.......
 

SpinnerBait_Nut

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Aug 25, 2002
Messages
17,651
Re: I now hate ladybugs!

Yea folks, don't sqaush them, they leave a very greasy brown spot and did I mention, they stink?
 

roscoe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
21,657
Re: I now hate ladybugs!

Ah, Spinner, you're the one spreading the yarn about the turkeys. You need to read the links I posted.<br /><br />
Dispelling Myths and Misconceptions <br /><br />No releases of the multicolored Asian lady beetle were made by The Ohio State University. This lady beetle species was not released to feed wild turkeys or other wildlife. <br /><br />
 

Carphunter

Commander
Joined
Aug 11, 2002
Messages
2,061
Re: I now hate ladybugs!

I believe that we have at least a dozen dead ones in each of the light fixtures in our house.<br /><br />Nothin like the smell of smokin ladybugs in the morning.<br /><br />Worst I have ever seen them here Mellow.
 

aspeck

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Staff member
Joined
May 29, 2003
Messages
18,588
Re: I now hate ladybugs!

They have been getting worse every year here in Central PA. This year they are horrendous! Squish them all, I say! The more you squish, the less I have to and that means the less it will stink around my house. The littlest aspeck was eating them the other day! YUKK!
 
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