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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
BlessYour2Sizes2SmallHeart · 05/10/2018 21:00

I let a bundle of them live in a spare room one winter, I don't see what the big deal is. Confused

DollyDayScream · 05/10/2018 21:17

Why are they a bad thing?

I found some once in my window and was delighted.

WhackyBirds · 06/10/2018 06:15

DollyDayScream when we had them there were hundreds. They would fly into my hair in the bathroom. A few are delightful. An infestation is not.

Cronesquerness · 06/10/2018 07:24

OP, this is easily remedied. You just tell the ladybirds to fly away home because their house is on fire and their children are all gone [or burned, I never figured that out]. You're welcome.

TheNoodlesIncident · 06/10/2018 07:51

Didn't Ann creep under a frying pan? The other children were all gone...

Yesbutnobutmaybe · 06/10/2018 08:08

We get infested every year, but this year I smeared vapours around where they had been coming in, windows mainly, and I’ve not had any!

Yogagirl123 · 06/10/2018 08:12

Swarms of them on the south coast yesterday, last hurrah in the sunshine I thought. My washing was covered in them. I like them, but not in the house

Xenia · 06/10/2018 08:30

I pick them up with my bare hands and put them in the toilet - which is by the sash window (they in through the sash window cracks I suppose) where they come in and we do get a lot. There was one last night. I have never been bitten by them and I am pleased when they are on my raspberry plants outside as they kill other insects but I cannot be spending time trying to carry them carefully outside to preserve their lives.

I presume these days we are still allowed to kill insects.

Original poster
sleepismysuperpower1 · 06/10/2018 16:26

blessyour2sizes2smallheart it would be fine in my spare room, but they are in my bedroom!

OP posts:
LearningToDrive · 06/10/2018 16:28

I caught and let loose 50+ yesterday. They are easy to catch and cluster around the windows so they are easy to brush out. I was worried my toddler would try to eat one, and lo and behold, this morning he did 🙄

Original poster
sleepismysuperpower1 · 06/10/2018 16:34

learningtodrive oh god! im on the lookout for one of these high frequency machines mentioned earlier in the thread

OP posts:
EggysMom · 06/10/2018 16:36

Bit of an 'invasion' this year: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45766496

thinkfast · 06/10/2018 18:54

They aren't harmless! They are harlequin ladybirds from Asia. They are larger than our native ones. Uk native ladybirds jest outside. Harlequin ones are used to warmer climates and come indoors. These ones can bite, stain furniture and are responsible for eating or displacing the uk ones.

MereDintofPandiculation · 06/10/2018 19:16

Ours can bite too. There was a great kerfuffle about them biting in the "ladybird year" in the 70s and that was before the harlequins reached here.

Harlequins have spread pretty well over the whole country - it's a lost cause.

WomblesAreCommon · 06/10/2018 19:24

We had harlequins a few years ago, horrible bastard things. Ant powder works on them. Pour boiling water down the outside walls and never open your windows again also.

DemocracyDiesInDarkness · 06/10/2018 19:28

We've had literally hundreds in our garden this year. We love them!

DubiousGoals · 06/10/2018 19:56

We're in Kent, and used to get an infestation in our bathroom around this time of year, also in an old sash window. Lavender works pretty well as a repellant for them, we clean all around the window with bleach solution to get rid of their scent-marking then hang a bag of dried lavender on a hook in the window frame. (Refresh it regularly with essential oil)

Been doing this for the last 3 or 4 years and 🤞🏻 no more ladybirds

SequinsOnEverything · 06/10/2018 20:26

We've suddenly got loads too. I like ladybird but am funding the volume of them a bit freaky. We even have one living in our car!

Original poster
sleepismysuperpower1 · 12/10/2018 19:07

thanks for your advice everyone. if anyone knew where to get the high frequency ladybird repellent i would be very grateful :)

OP posts:
trojanpony · 12/10/2018 19:21

Noooooo
why is everyone killing them???? Sad

They are harmless and adorable for a bug

They congregate bathroom in a corner and then disappear in spring they don’t damage anything and insects are invaluable to our eco system

Original poster
sleepismysuperpower1 · 12/10/2018 19:31

trojanpony i dont want to kill only repel. and they are all over my windows, not just in the corners Confused

OP posts:
TheRhythmlessMan · 12/10/2018 19:33

Me too! Never noticed this before. Is it because of the freak summer heat we had?

EdWinchester · 12/10/2018 19:36

How long do they live?

Why do they hibernate and not die?

There are at least 12 in our main bathroom and more in our bedroom.

I don't want to kill them but I hate them because they sometimes end up in my bedside glass of water - yuck and also I hate the stinky stuff they squirt on you if you touch them.

StoneofDestiny · 12/10/2018 19:55

How are they getting in to your house.

EdWinchester · 12/10/2018 20:01

We have all of our upstairs windows open. Have to - 9 inch solid walls.