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Ladybugs Swarm Homes In Cold Weather

Scores Of Ladybugs Seek Warm Place To Sleep

Posted: 6:04 am EDT October 21, 2009Updated: 6:28 am EDT October 21, 2009

One ladybug may bring luck, but hundreds have left some residents in Lincoln, Mass., feeling anything but.

Like many people in the area, Margit Griffith returned home Tuesday afternoon to find her home swarming with ladybugs reported Boston news station WCVB.

"All of a sudden, I looked out the window and there were about a 100 ladybugs -- or what I am assuming were ladybugs -- on my son's window. So, I ran to my daughter's room and there were about a 100 ladybugs there," Griffith said.

In the windows, on the clapboard and under the eaves -- the outside of house was crawling with ladybugs.

"(There was) not a sign of a ladybug yesterday," Griffith said.

"What happened is it's getting cold, the ladybugs are moving in from the field and are looking for a place to spend the winter," said Elissa Landre, director of Mass Audubon’s Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary.

Sunday's unseasonable snow served as the ladybugs' alarm bell. Still, it's one thing if they find shelter in the nooks and crannies outside the house, but it's another to have them crawling around inside.

"You probably don't (want them inside your house), but if you give them a couple of days in your house, they are going to find some cracks up in the attic or places that they can spend the winter quietly," Landre said.

The ladybugs will not nest, make a pest of themselves or reproduce. Instead, the ladybugs just want to sleep.

To get rid of them, experts suggested brushing them up or using the vacuum, but don't use pesticides and don't squash them.

"If you try to squash one, they squash a yellow, obnoxious-smelling fluid. So, don't squash them," Landre said.

Come spring, Margit said she'll open the windows and let them fly away.

"Our home is their home if it's just a few," Margit said.

The ladybugs are considered good luck for a good reason. They are very beneficial because they eat aphids, which harm fruit trees as well as maple and pines.

Detailed Forecast

Ben Smith
The latest forecast from Severe Weather Center 9 Meteorologist Ben Smith.
Meteorologist Profile

Mostly cloudy skies today a little morning fog. Only an isolated shower. Rain chances will increase as our next system arrives on Sunday.

Today: Mostly cloudy with only a passing shower. Highs in the lower 80s. East winds at 5-10 mph. Coverage 10%.

Tonight: Partly cloudy with areas of fog redeveloping. Lows in the middle 60s.

Sunday: Patchy morning fog, with mostly cloudy skies and a 30% rain coverage by afternoon, high in the lower 80s.

3 - Day Forecast
Sat
Partly Cloudy
81
Sun
Cloudy
82
Mon
Chance of Rain
83
Orange County
Mostly cloudy skies today a little morning fog. Only an isolated shower. Rain chances will increase as our next system arrives on Sunday.

Today: Mostly cloudy with only a passing shower. Highs in the lower 80s. East winds at 5-10 mph. Coverage 10%.

Tonight: Partly cloudy with areas of fog redeveloping. Lows in the middle 60s.

Sunday: Patchy morning fog, with mostly cloudy skies and a 30% rain coverage by afternoon, high in the lower 80s.

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