Seeing Ladybugs? What Does It Mean?
Is your house being invaded by ladybugs this fall? We explain why.
Is your house being invaded by ladybugs? From time to time, many people write to us and ask: where do all the ladybugs come from? They seem to be everywhere in the fall. Are they a sign of a harsh winter to come? Are they bringing good luck?
Ladybug Lore
While you may have heard the superstition that ladybugs bring good luck, they don’t seem to have any winter weather-predicting ability. There is no significance between the number of ladybugs and the upcoming winter forecast. Fall infestations of these beetles are more a sign of winter’s approach. As the temperatures begin to cool, these bugs love when a sunny day beckons to them to come out and soak up the rays. If it’s a warm autumn day, you may see tons of ladybugs on the sunniest side of your house.
As the nights cool, the bugs gravitate to warm places during the day (soaking up the sun’s rays on your house). They will do anything or go anyplace for a bit of warmth. In fact, if there is a tiny opening around a window or door, they find their way in and seem to invite all of their relatives.
Bottom line—the ladybugs are getting the last bit of warmth and mean no harm. Ladybugs are friends of the garden. They feed on insect eggs, small worms, aphids, and other pests. They can, however, damage carpets and furniture with their secretions. And if your home is really infested, when they die they can be all over window sills throughout the house. Best way to get rid of them? Vacuum.
Is it an Asian Lady Beetle or the American Ladybug?
Both look a lot alike and behave the same. There are a few ways to tell them apart:
Asian Lady Beetle: Has a very distinctive white “W” shape on its pronotum (the area between the head and body) Their bodies are usually orange or yellowish with black spots.
American Ladybug: Has a shiny black pronotum (the area between the head and body) with two tiny white circles. Bodies are a dark red with black spots.
Tell us: What are you seeing? Any “infestations” this fall?
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- Farmers' Almanac Staffhttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/author/fa-admin
- Farmers' Almanac Staffhttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/author/fa-admin
- Farmers' Almanac Staffhttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/author/fa-admin
- Farmers' Almanac Staffhttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/author/fa-admin
I only see ladybugs come in, in the spring. Not in the fall
Hello from Holland.Two decades or more ago I saw a documentary (BBC) that made clear that orange lady bugs hybernated in a weather station box with time laps camera that shows them getting covered with frost and after defrosting coming alive ! If winters would be colder then minus ten centigrade they’d hybernate elsewhere.They were better at forecasting then humans was the comment on their track record !
Why am I seeing lady bugs at the end of January 2024 in Southern Idaho..early spring?
I live in the deep south, the ladybugs that I am seeing are the gold/yellow ones with black dots. They’re pesky little devils, very persistant too! I don’t have an infestation of them, just see 3 or 4 around. They really came indoors since the temperature dropped into the teens, with the wind chill factor in the single digits at night. I hope they go away as soon as it warms back up. I have lived in this house for 37 years and only one time have I ever had this problem. This is my second time experiencing them in all the years I’ve lived here.
We just noticed a TON of Ladybugs all over the south side of our bright white home here in NC on 1st day of November 2022. I believe they are the Asian ladybugs. It’s kinda freaky. There are also a few wasps. And we’ve had a LOT of stink Bugs lately too.
Really not enjoying this many.
Have never minded (in fact love) ladybugs, but this is just kinda creepy.
We’re seeing the same in BC in Canada
I live in Kentucky and today is Oct 24th 2023 and there are a million lady bugs amd asian lady beetles along with stink bugs swarming the outside of my red brick, white house and of course getting in somehow. I bet there have been a thousand in my house today!!! I’m going nuts trying to get em out. Stink bugs not as many but they are around too of course and I will not vacuum them up yuck!
Hi Casey, I live in Connecticut and I have hundreds of the ladybugs out side of my house today Oct 25th 2023 and they are making their way into my inclosed porch. This may have something to do with winter.
Hi Casey, I live in Maryland and I see a lot of Ladybugs today (Oct 26) on the aluminum siding of my house. Unfortunately, I’m seeing quite a few stink bugs too.
They do tend to show up when it’s warm.
I have many flooding the south side of my house today in Central Southern Illinois!
So many of those Asian Lady beetles in our house. They showed up late summer and early fall. They are still popping up in our house this snowy winter.
I had flat card board box’s on my porch of my home. When I pulled them out they were hundreds of red and black spot lady bugs all together. I thought maybe they were breeding there
They are enjoying the sun in New Braunfels, TX today.
Asian Ladybugs are here central Tx . Thornton Tx