What you’re most likely seeing are Asian lady beetles. They have overwintered in your home and their instincts tell them to follow brightness, which means sunlit windows and light fixtures when they’re indoors.
If you’re like a lot of Massachusetts homeowners in January, you might have noticed this. A mild stretch of winter arrives and suddenly the window over the kitchen sink is covered in Asian lady beetles, which look a lot like ladybugs. So are the light fixtures. It looks like an invasion, but from their perspective, it’s more like a really unsuccessful jailbreak.
If this happens to you, the beetles likely entered the walls back in October. In the fall, swarms can linger on the sunny side of the house and work their way into the gaps around siding, window trim, soffits, and vents. Wall voids are particularly good for overwintering because they stay warm in the winter. When a warm spell comes, they think it’s spring, and they start to leave the home, or at least try to.
Outdoors, their instinct to follow the light points them at the sky. Indoors, that doesn’t work so well, so they end up going for windows and light fixtures instead. They cluster and buzz on glass to no avail. Then they drop to the sill and try again.
On your end, the best thing you can do is vacuum them up rather than swat. Crushed beetles release a yellow fluid that stains sills and drywall. Empty the canister outdoors. In the future, you can help stop infestations by sealing exterior gaps (trim, siding seams, vents, utility penetrations, and so on) that they use to get into the home. A professional pest control company can help you do this.
If your light fixtures keep drawing an audience, Mosquito Squad of Franklin-Framingham can help. Mosquito Squad's home and yard coverage addresses overwintering pests at the perimeter, helping protect the inside of your house by closing the outside routes.
