What you’re seeing are most likely Asian lady beetles and they like to gather on large, sun-warmed, light-colored surfaces. They tend to gather on south- and southwest-facing walls and look for crevices to overwinter in.
If you see ladybugs on the outside of your home or working their way in, you probably have Asian lady beetles. It’s a hassle. No one likes seeing bugs in their home and it doesn’t help that when scared or crushed, they secrete a yellow fluid that smells bad and stains surfaces.
You may wonder why they gather on your house. The main reason is warmth. When October has its first cold snap, Asian lady beetles sense that winter is coming. When it warms up again, they head for warmer surfaces, meaning large, sun-heated, light-colored surfaces. That often means the south and southwest walls of pale houses. Once there, they often crawl inside gaps in siding to live in wall voids for the winter.
These beetles spend most of the summer eating aphids in soybean fields, gardens, and orchards. If you’re close to any of these, you’re likely to have more trouble.
The best thing you can do if this is a problem for your property is seal gaps in late summer like weather stripping and cracks in siding. This helps you prevent them from getting inside even if they do congregate on your walls. To go beyond that, a professional can do perimeter treatment to further discourage them from gathering on the walls. If this is a routine problem, this is probably well worth it as beetles tend to leave behind pheromone traces that bring them back to the same places year after year.
If you are tired of Asian lady beetles taking over your walls when the weather turns, Mosquito Squad of Worcester can help. Mosquito Squad's home and yard coverage helps prevent Asian lady beetles from taking over your home. This can help you to protect the inside of the house no matter what gathers on the outside.
