Ladybirds usually make people feel positive, especially for organic gardeners. But when whole crowds invade the house, the love for the dotted lucky charms ends. How can you protect yourself from such attacks?
How to protect yourself from ladybugs in the house?
To protect yourself from ladybugs in the house, you should attach insect gauze to windows, keep windows and doors closed in autumn, seal cracks and gaps and carefully use a vacuum cleaner with a special attachment in the event of an infestation.
Why mass ladybird flights occur
Ladybirds have extremely positive connotations in our culture: as good luck charms, garden helpers, child protectors or as messengers from the Mother of God. Their negative sides are less often highlighted. The point beetles can also become unpleasant, especially around the winter phase. There are two types of hibernation for ladybirds, each of which can be a burden in its own way when looking for winter quarters:
1. The species that overwinter with us
All ladybirds survive the winter as adult insects. In order to look for suitable overwintering quarters, they like to get together with their peers and look out together. More pairs of eyes see more than just one, and grouping together has the advantage that after the strenuous overwintering, there is no need to search widely for reproductive partners. Ladybirds that overwinter here also like to gather in larger groups for the cold season. They can also get into the house and accumulate annoyingly, for example in double window frames.
2. Rare species that undertake long migrations to overwinter
But there are also species of ladybirds that migrate far away to other climatic areas to overwinter like migratory birds. They also come together in large groups and usually travel along the coasts. During these strenuous and often fatal migrations for some individuals, they can be severely battered - by wind, weather and the sea. Completely emaciated swarms of beetles can then become aggressive and bite people out of necessity.
Measures against annoying ladybirds
If large masses of ladybugs come into the house, you can do the following:
- Insect gauze in windows (€13.00 on Amazon)
- Keep windows and doors closed more often in autumn
- Seal cracks and crevices with silicone or adhesive tape
- Use the vacuum cleaner in a careful (and specially prepared) manner
About the vacuum cleaner method
If the beetles have already gotten into the house, you can grab them with a vacuum cleaner - but in order not to harm the animals while vacuuming them up, put a (nylon) stocking over the suction tube and pull the end inwards. Suck the beetles into this soft collection bag at the lowest suction level and empty it out in nature at a distance.
