Asian Lady Beetles Are Headed Inside Your Home For the Season

It's that time of year when you may start seeing what many think are ladybugs in your house, but more than likely they are Asian Lady Beetles and they want to come in for the winter.

The picture you see above is the first invader of the season in my house, so I know that more are coming. It happens every year, but be careful if you try to get rid of them. And it's important to remember that these aren't Ladybugs, they are Asian Lady Beetles, but unless you look closely, you'd never know the difference.

According to Plunkett's, "Asian lady beetles have a distinctive, highly-visible M-shaped black marking on their otherwise-white heads...while "Ladybug’s white markings are confined to the sides of the head and may resemble cheeks.”

As the temperatures get colder, the Asian Lady Beetles start looking for a warm place to hibernate, and they think your house would be perfect.

The good news is, according to Southern Living, they are harmless to humans and won't do any damage to your home either. If they're inside, they aren't easy to get rid of though, so you're probably just better off letting them do their thing. Come spring, the ones that survive the winter, will head back outside to feed on aphids, which may be one of the reasons they're attracted to your home in the first place. If you have a garden, you definitely don't want aphids around as they'll pretty much destroy it.

If you do want to get rid of the ones you see, the best way is to grab a vacuum cleaner and suck them up. Don't squish them, especially on walls, because their yellow-colored blood will stain everything.

We're just letting them go find a quiet corner somewhere out of sight to settle for the winter and if we see any that didn't make it, come spring, we'll just clean them up.