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Where are they? Ladybugs on the lam
BY CHARLES GARRATT • STAFF WRITER
 | | Dead ladybugs in the shades of light fixtures were a common scene in houses in the Highlands for a number of years. The Asian ladybugs swarmed to houses in mid- to late October to stay for the winter. But so far this year, the pesky beetles seemed to have disappeared, much to the relief of mountain residents who are used to spending countless hours with a vacuum hose removing them by the thousands each season. (Recorder photo by Charles Garratt) |
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WARM SPRINGS - No one seems to know where they went, nor can they say whether they might yet show up, but everyone seems to be happy the annual invasion of Asian ladybugs due around mid-October has yet to materialize.
Naturalist Brian LaFountain is normally excited about bugs of all kinds, but the yearly onslaught to his living space by ladybugs had him thinking more about bug spray than sweet little ladybird beetles ready to munch plant sucking aphids. "Just knowing the invasive ladybird plague has eluded this county this year is, to many people, nothing short of a miracle," LaFountain said.
 | | Windowsills, lampshades, walls and floors filled with ladybugs during late October, but not this year, at least not yet. Expert aren't sure what happened to the insects, but the population appears to have crashed in most of the area east of the Mississippi. (Recorder photo by Charles Garratt) |
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Theories abound as to what happened to the pesky beetles. Even though the scientist who study bugs have noted the decline in the population this fall, they don't have an answer to what happened to stem the tide of the stinky bugs that sometimes bite.
Almost everyone has a ladybug horror story or knows someone who does. County planner Sherry Ryder said, "They attacked you. And swarmed all over the house. They make your eyes burn."
TDS supervisor James Carpenter said while he and his wife Darlene did not have the problem at their house part the way up Warm Springs Mountain, he saw plenty of the critters in homes around the county, until this year. Carpenter thinks the invasion may yet occur if the weather turns warm for a couple of days.
Asian ladybird beetles, Harmonia axyridis, were first released in Georgia in 1993 to fight the pecan aphid. Like other ladybird beetles or ladybugs, both the adult and larvae of the ladybug are voracious feeders on aphids and similar plant pest.
No Asian ladybugs were ever released in Virginia, according to Virginia Tech entomologist Eric Day. Day heads up the bug lab at Tech and normally receives calls every fall to identify the beetles, but not this year.
"I, too, have noted both in my home, and when I am doing insect surveys, that there are very few of the multicolored Asian lady beetle," Day said. In addition, Day noted the decline in populations is widespread. Missouri and Kansas are reporting about normal populations, but the swarming is late. East of the Mississippi, the little bugs are missing.
Day said the Asian ladybug has its own parasites and predators. Since the pesky variety was introduced, it did not have any natural controls. The diseases and animals that prey on the Asian ladybug may "finally be catching up to it," Day hypothesized.
The Asian ladybug is primarily a predator of tree aphids, said Day. However, it does not prey on the hemlock wooly adelgid currently killing hemlock trees across the Northeast and Middle Atlantic states.
Extension agent Rodney Leech said he normally has a lot of calls each fall. This year he has neither been bothered at home by the bugs nor by the phone ringing in the office with complaints.
"I'd be glad if they go back and stay," Leech said. They are a nuisance, he added. The lack of Asian ladybugs is not expected to create any problems with outbreaks of aphids, according to the experts.
Leech said he didn't see any major agricultural outbreaks of aphids on garden and crop plants before the ladybug invasion. The few problems he did see where easily taken care of with sprays, he said.
Day noted even with the huge increase in Asian ladybugs in past years, he hasn't seen "a big reduction in aphid problems." Like Leech, he doesn't expect any additional aphid damage next year if the ladybug population has indeed crashed.
Many people who experienced a ladybug invasion in the fall complained of allergic reactions to the insects. For a number of years, doctors largely ignored the complaints and attributed the symptoms to more common causes.
This began to change a couple of years ago, according to papers presented to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. In 2006, studies presented at the AAAAI annual meeting characterized the problem, as "Asian ladybugs are a growing indoor allergen." The papers went as far as to say, "Ladybug sensitization is comparable to cockroach and cat (allergies)."
A 2006 study by Dr. David W. Goetz showed ladybug sensitization can be found in people of all ages. A study group concluded allergic patients should limit their exposure to the Asian ladybugs.
In addition to problems in homes, Asian ladybugs are causing problems in wineries. As anyone who has squashed one of the little critters can testify, they don't smell good. And they taste as bad as they smell, according to those who have the misfortune to find out.
According to a paper published by the American Chemical Society, ladybugs can be inadvertently processed along with grapes and taint the aroma and flavor of wine. The problem is complicated by the Asian ladybug having a penchant for damaged grapes. When the grapes are picked, ladybugs may be hidden in the clusters and are crushed with the grapes. The fowl smell familiar to victims of ladybug invasions ends up in the wine.
Should the ladybugs return, the weapons available to the homeowner have not changed. Joyce Ryder of the local extension office said they still don't recommend the aphid hunters be killed.
She recommends using a household vacuum to collect living and dead bugs so as to avoid agitating them and releasing the smell or creating dust containing bug parts that can cause allergies. Deciding to release the bugs outside or discard them is a personal choice.
Whether a warm day or two in November will bring the invasion is still unknown, though the widespread nature of the population crash makes that unlikely. Rumors the bugs were not released by the government this year or were killed by drought or by a late freeze are all just rumors, according to Day and other experts.
The one thing that is certain is most, if not all, people bothered by the bugs in recent years are happy to be rid of them this year. "No more panic. No more fear. No more overwhelming disgust," is how LaFountain characterized a fall without ladybugs.
"All we can do is be thankful that we were spared. Forever, hopefully," he said.
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