Wednesday, March 11, 2015

The Ladybug Dilemma

 While 'the boy' was outside sunning himself on the screened
in porch I was inside wondering what to do with all these
ladybugs ... so I did a little research on these little red things.
How Many Ladybugs Can You Find?
Ladybugs like to look for a place to hibernate. 
They are attracted to light colored homes, usually older homes 
and they are attracted to heat that the homes reflect. 
Once ladybugs have penetrated the home though, 
they are hard to get rid of.

Ladybugs release pheromones, it is sort of like "perfume" to 
attract other ladybugs. They use pheromones as a means of communication
during mating and hibernation. Insect pheromones are very powerful. 
They can be detected by others up to a 1/4 mile away. This helps ladybugs 
find each other and it lets future generations know of a good place to
"camp out" for the winter. The pheromones don't go away easily.
The chemical "scent" can remain year after year, and not only on the
outside of a structure, but also within the walls, where ladybugs
 tend to hide before emerging into your home. So, scrubbing pheromones 
off a house is a BIG task, if not impossible.

The yellow stuff you might see from time to time is their blood (hemolymph).
It, too, contains pheromones and it stains. You can see the yellow blood
when you hold a ladybug and it gets scared. This is a normal reaction
to stressful situations called reflex bleeding. Releasing some of its blood is
one way the ladybug can protect itself. The blood smells bad and signals to
a predator that this ladybug is not a good lunch choice.

Why do ladybugs come into my house in the winter time?
Ladybugs are attracted to the light colored houses. Especially, 
homes that have a clear southwestern sun exposure. Older homes tend to
 experience more problem with aggregations due to lack of 
adequate insulation. The ladybugs come in through small cracks 
around windows, door ways and under clap boards. They want 
to hibernate in a warm, comfortable spot over the cold months of winter. 
Ladybugs gather in groups when they hibernate, so if you see one, 
you can be sure more will follow. The best way to keep them out is to 
repair damaged clap boards, window and door trim and to caulk small cracks.

The bottom line just let the ladybugs do there thing.
....
On to other things like ... quilting!
I just finished the first quilt in our new place in what
the husband calls the manufacturing area.
This [as promised] is going to be donated to the 
Westie Rescue Michigan FB auction which starts
on Saturday and runs thru the weekend.
...
By the way ... did you see that Knoppa the Scottie won
Crufts 2015!  Rebecca Cross {the handler of Knoppa}
was the lady who would have handled Derby in the ring
if he would have went the show dog route.  Rebecca's
mom Doreen groomed both Julep and Derby until they
moved to Pennsylvania last year.  We are fortunate to know
Doreen & Rebecca because they are top rate!

I jazzed up the back of the quilt with an
inset panel made from left over blocks.
Hope this does well for the rescue organization.

5 comments:

  1. Adore the quilt! Great fabric. We use to live in an older home and ALWAYS would get ladybugs and I mean ALOT in our office. And while I know they say let them be but sometimes it was to many LOL

    Hope you have a very enjoyable weekend!

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  2. Gorgeous quilt and good luck with the ladybugs!
    J.

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  3. So glad you posted good info about Rebecca! I can ignore the bad press now.

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  4. I didn't know all that about lady bugs. I've never had much of a problem with them.
    Love the quilt

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  5. Well, if you had a lot of houseplants they would eat any aphids on them....

    I've never seen them anywhere but outside in the garden around here.

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