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Welcome again to the faith pest control Podcast. I’m Mike Stewart, your host, and today we’re going to be talking about ladybugs. Ladybugs are going to be all over Jasper, Georgia all over Ellijay, Georgia all over Blairsville, Georgia, all over Blue Ridge, Georgia, pretty much all over the north Georgia mountains, probably all over the south. But we’re focusing on these areas in our community. And you know, ladybugs are cute, they’re nice to look at but Fred, tell me how they’re a problem. And what do you guys do to solve that problem? Well, Mikey since the probably early 90s, large numbers of lady beetles lady bugs have been infested in homes in and around North Georgia because they typically live outdoors and feed on plant pests that such as aphids, and ladybugs are normally considered to be beneficial insects. When they fly, to buildings in search of overwintering sites, sites where they can they can hold up for the winter and end up indoors. The Asian lady beetle in particular can be a nuisance. Once they gain entry into the home, they’ll crawl on Windows walls, the ceilings inside the attic. Now all they often emit a yellowish fluid which has the potential the potential to stain whatever surface you know they may be on. And as well it’s has a I guess, necessarily unpleasant odor. During the 60s and on up into the 90s, the US Department of Agriculture attempted to establish a lady the lady beetle, the Asian specifically Asian lady beetle population to control some of the agricultural pest especially passed up pecan crops and Apple crops. Large numbers of beetles were released in several states, among them Georgia and South Carolina. As most of you know, apples are a major crop in North Georgia, especially locally in Gilmer County, which would be Ellijay. In The cons are pretty major crop in South Georgia. It’s my understanding that there’s some controversy among scientists whether the late Asian lady beetle invasion is a result of this intentional release of them or that the current infestations plaguing the US are due to the beetle being accidentally transported into a port at New Orleans from Japan. At this point, it really doesn’t matter why or how they got here. What is important is they’re here and they’re a nuisance once they get inside your home. Just for like a brief description the Asian lady beetle is kind of generally oval proximately coordinates long. They can range in color from tan to orange to red, and they will generally have several black spots on the wing covers. Although on some beetles the spots may be entirely absent. Generally speaking, multi spotted beetles tend to be the females and those with fewer no spots tend to be the males. In Georgia, the beetles inhabit ornamental and agricultural crops including corn, soybeans, apples and pecans. During spring and summer, the larvae and adults feed mainly on aphid aphids, consuming hundreds per day. There’s few, if any, no natural predators here in the US against the lady the Asian lady beetle, which means they can spread and poppy like pretty easily. They really are beneficial insects they just happen to be a nuisance when they enter our homes. As fall approaches, the adult beetles tend to leave their summer feeding sites wherever they may be and seek out protected areas to overwinter. Swarms of lady beetles will typically fly to buildings throughout the fall depending on the weather conditions. Their flights tend to be on really the heaviest of sunny days which allow a period of cooler weather. Consequently, most Beatles flight activity occurs during the afternoon. The Beatles would tend to congregate on the sunny or warmer sizes of buildings which are illuminated by the afternoon sun which we all know here which typically the west or southwest side of the home.
homes that are shaded from afternoon Some are normally less likely to attract meals. Ironically enough we get at my personal house. We do live in a very wooded area but we do get a fair amount of afternoon and evening sun but we don’t I don’t particularly have a lady beetle problem at my house. And my house is be closely custom to the to the mechanics. Wife, the mechanics wife drives the old junky car with I don’t really do a whole lot at my house for for pest control, but we don’t have a problem with lady beetles at my house. A contrasting light and dark colors tend to attract the beetles. Dark shutters on a light background or light shutters on a darkly painted house windows that are trimmed in white, or other light colored trim, gutters and downspouts that are have a contrasting color to the color of the house. homes near woods or fields are potentially particularly plowed into prone infestation because this is where the lady beetles live on those fields and forests. Once the Beatles discover their wherever they’re going to overwinter all over winter they’ll seek out cracks and crevices and other protected places to spend the winter. They typically seek out cracks and crevices around windows and doors behind the fascia boards in exterior siding within the soffits attics wall voids. Homes in poor repair, with many cracks and openings are more vulnerable to an infestation than than a well kept home. As the temperatures begin to warm up in early spring, the big The Beatles will become become active again. And as the Beatles begin to awake they try to get to the outdoors some will inadvertently wander inside the home and begin emerging from the walls, attic suspended ceilings. stuff such as that since the lady beetle is attracted to light, they will often be seen around the windows and light fixtures. lady beetles are normally just a nuisance and don’t injure humans, unlike some other pests such as roaches and fleas, but but they do not reproduce indoors. The lady beetles you see appearing in the late winter early spring are the same ones that entered your home the previous fall. lady beetles do not attack wood food, clothing. They’re there they do they’re non destructive actually to your home. But nonetheless most homeowners and vacation rental property owners have have little tolerance for any insects indoors. When large num numbers of beetles are flying in the fall they will often land on your clothing and will occasionally bite or pinch you if they come in contact with your skin. The in nature lady beetles eat other insects and consequently they have chewing mouthparts the bite or pinch from them kind of feels like a pinprick but it’s very seldom serious. Besides being a nuisance, as I mentioned earlier, the beetles emit light and accurate odor and can stain surfaces with or yellowish secretions. Although the Asian lady beetle does not transmit disease, they have there have been some recent studies that suggest and lady beetle infestation can cause our allergies in some people because they’re their body, I guess decomposes to a to an extent. And you know when they die and then they’re they become a dust particle. Pretty much. So one. One more interesting tidbit of information that I’ve recently discovered about the Asian lady beetle is that they’re becoming a concern in the wine industry. If anyone has paid any attention to North Georgia in the last 15 or 20 years, they’ll know that the wine industry is exploded here. Anyway, what has been happening is due to their offensive odor, you know, you may or may not realize this but they’re the
government allows a certain amount of impurities in the food that we buy. So even in small numbers of beetles that it will inadvertently get processed along with grapes. That number that even a small number of beetles can taint the flavor of the One, I found I was kind of somewhat intrigued by that day anyway. Faith pest control does offer a free consultation is as well as 100. A 100%. Make you happy money back guarantee. Do you hire faith pest control, to get rid of your ladybug problem. In the end of 30 days, you’re not 100% Happy, we’ll come back and retreat your home for free. And we’ll keep on trading it for free. And you tell us that you are happy. That still doesn’t make you happy. We’ll give you back every penny you spent on the original treatment. Plus, we’ll pay you an additional $25 for your time in trouble just for fiddling with us. The bottom line is I want you to be happy with the service that you that we provide you or you won’t owe us a penny. If you feel like what I’ve said makes sense. Please call fete pest control today at 7708239 to 02 and asked to speak to me, Fred tally. I’ll be more than happy to speak to you and answer any questions you may have. Well, thank you, Fred. Great explanation, great information. And I hope everyone enjoys this podcast. We do it as a community service for all the fine folks in North Georgia, especially in Jasper Blue Ridge, Blairsville and Ellijay. Georgia. You can listen to us and subscribe to us in Apple Music and Amazon music and audible Spotify wherever you get your podcasts. In fact, you can tell Alexa, let me hear the latest episode of the faith pest control podcast and it’ll start playing instantly. So we hope you enjoyed this information and that you stay pest free
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
