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I Opened My Home, But They Didn’t Come
March 28th, 2008 | 
Author: Who didn’t come to my home? The ladybugs!!! The invitation was there in October and November, just like it is every year, but for some reason, they decided not to visit. I have put off celebrating their lack of visiting for about 4-5 months because I just wasn’t quite sure they weren’t coming. However, I think it is safe to say that 2007 was the year of no ladybugs! Yay! My vacuum cleaner is still sighing with relief.
For those of you who live anywhere else in the world besides West Virginia, you are probably thinking, “What is this crazy lady babbling about ladybugs for?” If you live in West Virginia, particularly in an area with trees, you know exactly what I’m talking about – the annual influx of Japanese (I think they are called Japanese) ladybugs. For those blessed to not have the ladybug invasion, I’ll explain.
Each year about the time that the first leaf falls off the tree, the first ladybug appears. For the next month or so, they invade any place warm, mainly the house. The window ledges get filled, the siding on the sunny side of the house goes from white to looking like it has chicken pox, and the kitchen floor under the window looks like it hasn’t been swept in months and months. My understanding is that this particular kind of ladybug (slightly different than the adorable little red ladybug with black spots) lives in the tops of the trees during the spring and summer months. Then when the days get cooler and the leaves start falling, they seek warm spots. Typically the warm spots are the tiny cracks and crevices in your home – the ones you didn’t even know existed.
The only possible way to get rid of the pesky critters is to vacuum or sweep them up. And there’s usually one or two…thousand…a day. No exaggeration! Some people do spray the outside of their homes with some type of concoction which seems to deter them a little, but they still invade – just not in high epidemic proportions. (The yearly invasion always reminds me of what the people in Egypt must have felt like during the plagues.)
Besides adding to my daily cleaning routine, the little darlings also don’t taste very well. I had the horrible experience of chewing on one a few years ago. Talk about nasty. We were eating dinner, spaghetti to be exact, and I gave myself a second helping. I took a bite and kept chewing and chewing, not remembering what I put in the spaghetti sauce that I couldn’t possibly chew. The serving dish had been uncovered just like normal people leave it while eating dinner and apparently a ladybug saw that as the perfect opportunity to dive bomb the spaghetti sauce. Yuck. Gross. It was bitter, chewy and not pleasant tasting at all.
So, yes, I do find it hard to smile and say, “how cute!” when I pass stuffed animal ladybugs or ladybug cards or ladybug toys or ladybug clothes. Personally, I want to rip their darling little bodies to pieces, but I refrain.
I am, however, thoroughly delighted that we avoided a plague last year due to the extreme drought in our area. Maybe now I will consider being nice to those who market ladybug items (obviously they’ve never lived around here). In the meantime, I’ll continue to clean up the remnants of the 2006 invasion.
For those of you who live anywhere else in the world besides West Virginia, you are probably thinking, “What is this crazy lady babbling about ladybugs for?” If you live in West Virginia, particularly in an area with trees, you know exactly what I’m talking about – the annual influx of Japanese (I think they are called Japanese) ladybugs. For those blessed to not have the ladybug invasion, I’ll explain.
Each year about the time that the first leaf falls off the tree, the first ladybug appears. For the next month or so, they invade any place warm, mainly the house. The window ledges get filled, the siding on the sunny side of the house goes from white to looking like it has chicken pox, and the kitchen floor under the window looks like it hasn’t been swept in months and months. My understanding is that this particular kind of ladybug (slightly different than the adorable little red ladybug with black spots) lives in the tops of the trees during the spring and summer months. Then when the days get cooler and the leaves start falling, they seek warm spots. Typically the warm spots are the tiny cracks and crevices in your home – the ones you didn’t even know existed.
The only possible way to get rid of the pesky critters is to vacuum or sweep them up. And there’s usually one or two…thousand…a day. No exaggeration! Some people do spray the outside of their homes with some type of concoction which seems to deter them a little, but they still invade – just not in high epidemic proportions. (The yearly invasion always reminds me of what the people in Egypt must have felt like during the plagues.)
Besides adding to my daily cleaning routine, the little darlings also don’t taste very well. I had the horrible experience of chewing on one a few years ago. Talk about nasty. We were eating dinner, spaghetti to be exact, and I gave myself a second helping. I took a bite and kept chewing and chewing, not remembering what I put in the spaghetti sauce that I couldn’t possibly chew. The serving dish had been uncovered just like normal people leave it while eating dinner and apparently a ladybug saw that as the perfect opportunity to dive bomb the spaghetti sauce. Yuck. Gross. It was bitter, chewy and not pleasant tasting at all.
So, yes, I do find it hard to smile and say, “how cute!” when I pass stuffed animal ladybugs or ladybug cards or ladybug toys or ladybug clothes. Personally, I want to rip their darling little bodies to pieces, but I refrain.
I am, however, thoroughly delighted that we avoided a plague last year due to the extreme drought in our area. Maybe now I will consider being nice to those who market ladybug items (obviously they’ve never lived around here). In the meantime, I’ll continue to clean up the remnants of the 2006 invasion.Related posts:
Posted in down on the farm
Did you know that some people actually order ladybugs for their rose gardens? LOL! Maybe you should start a business.
Ah! I see dollar signs!!! LOL!
Actually, these ladybugs aren’t the kind that hang out in the garden. They go straight from tree top to inside the house. I do have a few normal ladybugs (the red and black kind) in my garden, and I don’t mind those at all. The orange/yellow and black kind are a regular nuisance, but if anyone wants some, I’ll gladly send some to you come autumn! 