As much as I like ladybugs, this is a bit much. Harmonia axyridis, the Asian ladybeetle, has decided to pay me a visit and bring thousands of her friends. They're all over our new vinyl siding. We haven't seen this many ladybugs since we were kids.When we first moved into our house, several years ago, we had a few of them getting inside. We fixed that with some caulking. When we knocked our chimney down, we found a giant nest of them, which, of course, we got rid of. This year, when we sided and insulated the outside of our house, I suspect we evicted a bunch of these little buggers.
I haven't gotten that far in my research yet, but I suspect they are doing their fall swarm, looking for their usual way in under our old cedar shake siding for a cozy winter bunk, and are going to be disappointed now that the house is better-sealed. The best hope I have, since I don't plan to fight them with pesticides (they eat crop-destroying aphids), is to gracefully wait until cooler air moves in and they go away in search of better lodging. It remains to be seen whether we have this problem in future years. As far as I can see, our crawlspace attic is ladybug-free.
No aphids here, nosirree. :)
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