Evil LadyBugs

I promised a blurb on the "killer" LadyBugs (actually Asian Beetles) that swarm every October at my Aunt's rural Virginia homestead.

NOTHING gets rids of them.

Several times in October . . . before it freezes . . . when the sun comes out and the day warms in the mid-afternoon . . . the ladybugs swarm by the billions in the pasture beside my Aunt's house . . . and invade the walls & attic of her home. It's like an Egyptian plague. The bugs are attracted to light. Once inside the house, they leave stinky, darkened trails on the walls and light fixtures.

The literature says they're not harmful, but I beg to differ - because sometimes when they get on your arm, the little suckers bite.

It started about ten years ago. My Aunt and Uncle have consulted exterminators and combed the Internet for a solution . . . but they really have not found a good way to get rid of the bugs - or make them move on to somebody else's pasture. They have discovered that encasing the window-screens in black plastic and keeping the lights off keeps the bugs out of the inside of the house. Planting "bug-bombs" under the house in the middle of an afternoon swarm also helps.

Of course, once the bombs go off, the people have to get out of the house for a while.

The few bugs that do get inside the house-proper can be chased/sucked up by a hand-held vacuum-cleaner. It's a bit of a sport. And that's what we did all weekend.

I keep my suitcase zipped up during October visits . . . so that I don't inadvertently relocate a ladybug to North Carolina.

Lately, trying to keep it light-hearted, I've taken to getting my Aunt (whose childhood nickname is Chricket) gifts that have a ladybug theme. Sometimes she is amused. Sometimes she is not.

October is never a good month for my Aunt anyway, and her farmhouse being darker than a tomb does not help. Sometimes you wanna just hang the flag upside down (I know how that guy feels) and run.

But family "invading" to help her fight the battle-of-the-bugs does. We had a grand time on this visit.

Ladybugs or not, it's always good to visit the Lazy J.