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Original poster

To ask for your help getting rid of ladybirds

79 replies

sleepismysuperpower1 · 05/10/2018 17:08

hi all,

my window has around 17 ladybirds on it. we have installed new windows etc, and i am at loss of what to do to stop them coming in.

is there anywhere i can buy a ladybird trap that actually works? im getting desperate, i really hate them being there.

TIA

OP posts:
NotOnTheBench · 05/10/2018 19:54

We get swarms of them at our office this time of year. I ran into a swarm last year + got badly bitten - I'm sensitive to insect bites anyway. Our FM people come round sometimes, hoover them up + release the in the park outside but they do come back. Shut the windows + put fans on if it gets warm.

Original poster
sleepismysuperpower1 · 05/10/2018 19:55

romanyroots you can get the larvae from here, but they are only avaliable from may onwards x www.greengardener.co.uk/shop/ladybirds-and-lacewings/adult-ladybirds-328.html

OP posts:
Ohluckyme · 05/10/2018 19:57

I catch them on pieces of paper and put them in the garden. They are an important part of the ecosystem. Please don’t kill them

ouchr · 05/10/2018 20:03

We have the same here! You're not in Kent are you??

iliketomoveitmoveitMOVEIT · 05/10/2018 20:09

We have them too! Apparently they are Asian ladybirds that were introduced here for pest control and are now eating all the native ones?

Original poster
sleepismysuperpower1 · 05/10/2018 20:11

no, im not from kent, but its funny how lots of people are in the same situation

OP posts:
Changingeveryth · 05/10/2018 20:11

Massive ladybird swarms today in the South East. We had hundreds in the house earlier, but manged to encourage most of them out. The outside walls looked alive with them all crawling and flying about. Leaving the house was not fun.

iliketomoveitmoveitMOVEIT · 05/10/2018 20:12

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/10920087/Cannibal-harlequin-ladybirds-eating-native-British-cousins.html

Harlequin ladybirds - they seem to be the ones that like to cluster around your windowsill, at least according to the intensive googling of “why are ladybirds trying to break into my house” that I did Grin

NoNoCharlieRascal · 05/10/2018 20:14

The only way to truly get rid of them is to find their homes and set fire to them. Make sure their children have left first, well all except Ann.

Everyoneiswingingit · 05/10/2018 20:15

Why? Leave them alone!

Bananalanacake · 05/10/2018 20:17

Reminds me of when my German dp was staying in my London flat, he came out of the bathroom and said "your shower is full of, I can't think of the English word - marine kafer" so now I call them marine kaferGrin

MabelFurball · 05/10/2018 20:20

Yes I am in the South East and noticed ladybirds coming in today and crawling on the south facing outside wall. Had never been aware of them to this extent before.

mineofuselessinformation · 05/10/2018 20:24

Reseal around your windows inside and out.
If you want to be humane, try to trap the ones that are inside and release them, but I suspect you will be in a loser there.

sanityisamyth · 05/10/2018 20:25

Why kill them? That makes me really angry and upset. They're an important part of ecology. No ladybirds = more chemicals on food.

Nanny0gg · 05/10/2018 20:25

If they are Harlequins we don't want them.
It's only the native species that should be left alone.
www.harlequin-survey.org/downloads/Ladybird%20descriptions_Info%20pack_NEW_v.5.pdf

Original poster
sleepismysuperpower1 · 05/10/2018 20:29

sanityisamyth i don't want to kill them, i want to repel them so they don't come inside my home.

OP posts:
slalomsuki · 05/10/2018 20:30

They are definitely Harlequin ladybirds and are a pain to get rid of once they have found a place to hibernate and rest. We have had them for approximately 10 years nesting inside of the trickle vents and cavity wall of our house. We have scrubbed and bleached to remove the scent and now I confess I resort to the vacuum to get rid of them inside of the house.

JamPasty · 05/10/2018 20:31

What the heck?! I'll have them! The wee vicious bastards chomp the shit out of aphids - I need as many as I can get my hands on!

WhackyBirds · 05/10/2018 20:33

I remember this last year, we were inundated. Since moved to the city and there are none.

We swept them all up and put them outside. Every couple of days. For months Sad

We eventually found the eggs were in my blind and cleaned the whole thing. It helped a bit.

Nanny0gg · 05/10/2018 20:36

Harlequin ladybirds feed most commonly on aphids, but have a wide food range, also feeding on scale insects, adelgids, the eggs and larvae of butterflies and moths, many other small insects, including other ladybirds, pollen, nectar, and sugary fluids, including honeydew and the juice from ripe fruits.

slalomsuki · 05/10/2018 20:38

They also eat the natural ladybirds from the UK and are driving them out. A bit like the grey squirrel vs red squirrel.

yesmelord · 05/10/2018 20:42

I live in a new build next to fields and my house was swarming in them.

Happened last year, Someone told me on here that they were trying to find somewhere to hibernate. Had some good advice.

This year I sprayed all my window frames inside and out, and the doors with bug repellent and it worked a treat. There are still a couple but no where near as many!

abear · 05/10/2018 20:47

I am in Kent as someone mentioned above and had so many ladybirds flying in today. I lit some old citronella candles I had left over from a holiday on the windowsill they were flying to and they seem to have gone - for now!

OddestSock · 05/10/2018 20:52

We’re near Manchester & last week they were all over he inside garage door

Shesaysso · 05/10/2018 20:57

I sweep them off the window and then wipe Vicks vapour rub on the frame- seems to discourage them from returning in quite so large numbers.