The Bugs Who Flew Too Much

This invasion would have driven even Alfred Hitchcock psycho

  • By Rebecca Sicree
  • Smithsonian magazine, September 2008, Subscribe
 

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"Hitchcock," my husband said. "It's like something out of Hitchcock."

I was confused. We'd been discussing Tommy's spelling grades, which, though suspenseful, were hardly terrifying. Then I noticed a clicking sound, growing louder by the minute. My husband was staring out the window.

"At least," he said, "it's not The Birds."

Looking out, I saw a snow squall...which was odd because it was a warm, sunny day in October. It was also odd because the snowflakes were orange. As each "flake" hit our window, it made a distinct click, then started crawling.

It was not a storm, but a swarm. A blizzard of ladybugs was swirling around our house.

At first we thought that our house, which we'd just moved into, must be on their fall migration path. But when we opened the door, the ladybugs flew at us, fast and furious. As we retreated back inside, we realized that they had not been trying to fly south at all.

They had been trying to fly in.

Our friendly local entomologist informed us that the insects were actually multicolored Asian lady beetles, not your usual ladybugs. Each fall these natives of Japan swarm to sun-warmed cliffs and seek out cracks in which to spend the winter. Apparently, our house resembled a sun-warmed Japanese cliff. Apparently, I resembled a sun-warmed Japanese cliff. I might have written a haiku about it if the ladybugs hadn't tasted so bad when they flew into my mouth.

In the two days before the exterminators arrived, the ladybugs discovered every crack and crevice in our house. We hid inside and vacuumed the ceiling every hour. We developed a new appreciation for the ten plagues of the Bible, four of which involved swarms. "Can you imagine the poor Egyptians going through all this without a Shop-Vac?" my husband asked. And, I thought, with flies and frogs? (Personally, I would have let the Israelites go after just one plague.)

We think of ladybugs as little cute-as-a-button beetles. Aphids, their usual prey, know better. They know that ladybugs are really little cute-as-a-button Sherman tanks. With wings. Many of them could resist the suction of even our industrial-strength vacuum cleaner.

Eventually even a Shop-Vac fills up. This presented new difficulties. One was where to empty it, because, of course, the ladybugs were all still alive inside. The other was how to prevent 10-year-old Tommy from opening it and looking in.

"Where," my husband asked, "is an insectivore when you need one?" He disposed of the bugs after dark with the help of a little gasoline. We told the boys, Tommy and his 2-year-old brother, Jamie, that the bugs had a nice funeral pyre.

But the onslaught continued. The next day my husband started talking, rather grimly, about flamethrowers. He even reminisced about 17-year locusts. "At least," he pointed out, "they didn't try to get into the house."

The exterminators arrived and sprayed the outside of our house. "This is nothing," one of them observed. "At another house, we vacuumed up five garbage bags full of them." Outdoors, all we had to do was sweep away the casualties. Indoors, we still had to conduct what the military calls a "mopping up action." Even Jamie helped chase down the holdouts. I know this because I discovered two brightly colored wings hanging out of his mouth.

Hitchcock indeed.

Rebecca Sicree writes from Boalsburg, Pennsylvania.


"Hitchcock," my husband said. "It's like something out of Hitchcock."

I was confused. We'd been discussing Tommy's spelling grades, which, though suspenseful, were hardly terrifying. Then I noticed a clicking sound, growing louder by the minute. My husband was staring out the window.

"At least," he said, "it's not The Birds."

Looking out, I saw a snow squall...which was odd because it was a warm, sunny day in October. It was also odd because the snowflakes were orange. As each "flake" hit our window, it made a distinct click, then started crawling.

It was not a storm, but a swarm. A blizzard of ladybugs was swirling around our house.

At first we thought that our house, which we'd just moved into, must be on their fall migration path. But when we opened the door, the ladybugs flew at us, fast and furious. As we retreated back inside, we realized that they had not been trying to fly south at all.

They had been trying to fly in.

Our friendly local entomologist informed us that the insects were actually multicolored Asian lady beetles, not your usual ladybugs. Each fall these natives of Japan swarm to sun-warmed cliffs and seek out cracks in which to spend the winter. Apparently, our house resembled a sun-warmed Japanese cliff. Apparently, I resembled a sun-warmed Japanese cliff. I might have written a haiku about it if the ladybugs hadn't tasted so bad when they flew into my mouth.

In the two days before the exterminators arrived, the ladybugs discovered every crack and crevice in our house. We hid inside and vacuumed the ceiling every hour. We developed a new appreciation for the ten plagues of the Bible, four of which involved swarms. "Can you imagine the poor Egyptians going through all this without a Shop-Vac?" my husband asked. And, I thought, with flies and frogs? (Personally, I would have let the Israelites go after just one plague.)

We think of ladybugs as little cute-as-a-button beetles. Aphids, their usual prey, know better. They know that ladybugs are really little cute-as-a-button Sherman tanks. With wings. Many of them could resist the suction of even our industrial-strength vacuum cleaner.

Eventually even a Shop-Vac fills up. This presented new difficulties. One was where to empty it, because, of course, the ladybugs were all still alive inside. The other was how to prevent 10-year-old Tommy from opening it and looking in.

"Where," my husband asked, "is an insectivore when you need one?" He disposed of the bugs after dark with the help of a little gasoline. We told the boys, Tommy and his 2-year-old brother, Jamie, that the bugs had a nice funeral pyre.

But the onslaught continued. The next day my husband started talking, rather grimly, about flamethrowers. He even reminisced about 17-year locusts. "At least," he pointed out, "they didn't try to get into the house."

The exterminators arrived and sprayed the outside of our house. "This is nothing," one of them observed. "At another house, we vacuumed up five garbage bags full of them." Outdoors, all we had to do was sweep away the casualties. Indoors, we still had to conduct what the military calls a "mopping up action." Even Jamie helped chase down the holdouts. I know this because I discovered two brightly colored wings hanging out of his mouth.

Hitchcock indeed.

Rebecca Sicree writes from Boalsburg, Pennsylvania.

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Comments (3)

Lady bugs are no problem for me, My barn seems to take care of that, but that old barn sure gets a tub full.

Posted by Jack Miller on September 17,2008 | 08:17 AM

I too had a ladybug experience! They covered the front door of a little house I was renting in Decatur, GA. My son-in-law had to come and rescue me with a can of bug spray but still they entered through every little crack in the window frames. I too vacuumed them up but made the mistake of opening the vacuum in the living room and they all escaped again. Some months later, I moved to a Senior Independent Living apartment building in Decatur. Quess What? The Lady bugs followed me and now they bask contentedly in the sun outside on the wall next to my 10th floor apartment. The windows are snug and they have not found their way in yet. But I am ready with spray can in hand and I shall sing to them - " Ladybug, Ladybug fly away home. You're house is on fire you're children will burn."

Posted by Leila Weisberg on September 7,2008 | 12:47 PM

One should take note of the specie of Lady-beetle doing this behavior. I have done two years of research and found that illegally imported Lady-beetle commonly called Asian lady beetle have taken root here in the States, These beetle have completely different behavior. YouTube has videos on this Asian Lady-beetle showing what you are talking about. I recommend only one beetle for the Do-it-your self rose/veg. gardener/farmer that is the Convergent Lady Beetle. They are larger and have fewer spots than this Asian Lady beetle. http://ladybugneedahome.blogspot.com/2008/08/lady-bugs-need-home.html

Posted by Laisseraller on August 27,2008 | 09:28 AM



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