bugs

[Glennbear]

Apparently machines are not the only thing we have imported from Asia: www.epestsupply.com/asian_beetles.html My shop, shed, and house are infested with these little devils. According to the article, they are attracted to large white structures (house and shop ) When I was painting the exterior many committed hari-kari in the wet paint. They love feeding on soybean aphids and move on when a field is harvested ( field across the road was being harvested the week I was painting ) When I started moving stuff from the shed to the shop last weekend there was a bazillion overwintering on stored shelves etc. fortunately air hose was handy to blast them into orbit before they could exude their nastiness. I guess I will just have to get used to yet another southern bit of flora and fauna along with the racoons, opposums, bears, cougar, deer, snakes etc I have seen so far What has me concerned is last weekend I was unpacking my new bandsaw and part of the packing material was some weird loking cheapo plywood, I wonder how many more non-native species are coming in with our Asian imports? The pic is from when I lifted up a doormat in the house.

[toolferone]

Note to self, repaint shop different color.

I hope they are not destructive.

[Robert Arrowood]

Looks to me like Lady Bugs.They say its bad luck to kill them in the house. You can actually buy them to pollinate the flower bed.Don't worry they don't bit.

[newtonc]

I had an orchard prior to moving to NC.
I used to mail order them by the box full and spread them around the orchard late at night.That way they aren't just going to fly away.They were great for controlling pest insects.
And the fun was getting them out of every crevice and from in your clothes after spreading them.

[Glennbear]

Unfortunately these are an Asian lookalike:

Lady bugs surrounding and invading your home by the thousands? millions? It's not lady bugs, it probably the Asian beetle. Asian beetles have become a homeowners worst nightmare.Asian beetles, which are sometimes mistaken for ladybugs or lady bird beetles, are familiar insects in many parts of the United States. For the most part, Asian beetles are beneficial predators that eat aphids, scale, insects, and many other pests that injure plants in gardens, landscapes and agricultural settings. However, in many places the multicolored Asian lady beetle has become a household pest.

[mike_wood]

The "asian beetle" is a lady bug. As indicated by the original poster they are attracted to large, light colored structures to overwinter because in their native Europe (where they were imported from) they overwintered in cliff faces. Since Eastern NC has very few cliffs they go to houses. They get in through cracks during the Fall but many will die during the winter as it is too dry inside. However, a fair number will survive and come spring will try to get back out- usually accumulating on widow sills. I have seen cases where folks have vacuumed buckets of them up.

As far as using lady beetles as a biological control agent they will not work. No matter what time of day they are released (see http://cipm.ncsu.edu/ent/biocontrol/qanda.htm). For the most part no winged, adult, predator is worth the money to release them as they fly off immediately (e.g. lady beetles, praying mantis). Purchased lady beetles are scooped up with shovels while they overwinter in Calif and are boxed and shipped out. They have no affinity for the place they are released and will quickly disperse. The most useful insects to control pest insects are the parasitoids. Check out the web site to find out what they are and how to release them.

[erasmussen]

Bats are great for night flying insects
I am going to build a bat house soon

[TXnNC]

Purple Martins are also great for insect control. They should be moving into NC in the next few weeks and I already have my house up. They primarily eat flying insects (flies, mosquitos, wasp, etc.) and fly somewhat like bats. It is said that a PM can eat up to 2000 insects in a night! I built a house that can hold up to 12 mating pairs...that is a LOT of mosquitos!!

Ken

[jeff...]

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives...7577.Zo.r.html

[Gotcha6]

I heard just the opposite about martins. Everyone around Union County puts up martin houses, but I read somewhere they actually eat dragonflies which do prey on mosquitoes. Anybody else see that?