Seeing more ladybugs in and around your home? An expert explains why

There may be an influx of this familiar-looking beetle in your home as the weather gets cooler this fall.

The Harmonia Axyridis, also known as the Asian lady beetle, will be looking for somewhere warm to ride out the winter, in a process called overwintering."

Antonia Guidotti, an entomology technician at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), explained that beetles will do everything they can to stay warm as they wait for spring to return.

As the days get shorter, the parts of the home that are the warmest are south-facing, because they get the most sun during the day. There are definitely a lot of them coming indoors right now," Guidotti said.

Ladybug, ladybeetle or ladybird beetle are all general common names for the species in the Coccinellidae family. And Asian Lady beetles are a type of ladybug.

Though they resemble the black and red ladybugs we all know and love, the Asian lady beetle is actually different from your average ladybug.

Guidotti says the species originates from Asia and was introduced in the U.S. in the 1970s, and the first ones were recorded in Canada in 1994.

I'm not sure why the term lady" was given to these beetles. There are males and females in each species," Guidotti said.

It was intentionally introduced to feed on soybean aphids and other aphids in the Southern U.S. This lady beetle is so good at what it does that it has spread all over the continent."

Now, the Asian lady beetle is the most prominent ladybug that can be found outdoors. Other species, such as the transverse ladybug (Coccinella transversoguttata), and the two-spotted ladybug (Adalia bipunctata), are much less common in Ontario.

You can tell them apart by looking at the shape of the black markings on the Asian lady beetle, says Guidotti.

That particular one has a black W' on top of a white background. The head is black and with a bit of white. Right behind it, there's this plate. On that plate, it's actually a W.' That's the character that we use to separate this species from all the other ones."

They pose no harm to humans, though they do sometimes bite. The beetles may also leave yellow markings on light-coloured fabric and surfaces.

It's more of a nuisance issue because there are so many of them," says Guidotti.

Sean Rollo, technical director for Orkin pest control services, said that once the beetles seek refuge in your home, there is no viable treatment exterminators can use to get rid of them.

Instead, he advises looking for gaps around windows, door, and vents and sealing them with silicone or caulking, saying that's the best way to keep the insects from crawling inside in the first place.

If the beetles have already made your home a winter hideaway, removing them is pretty simple.

You can just vacuum them up as you see them. If you happen to catch them live and put them back outside, they're likely to find another way back in," he said.

We generally dissuade people from trying to take measures to eliminate them because they are beneficial for our garden and our plants to keep the aphid population in control," Rollo said.

Ashleigh-Rae Thomas is a reporter for the Star's radio room based in Toronto. Reach Ashleigh-Rae via email: arthomas@thestar.ca

Erin LeBlanc is a reporter for the Star's radio room based in Toronto. Reach Erin via email: eleblanc@thestar.ca