Japanese Beetles

[Palomino]

Hello everyone,

Im having a problem with Japanese bettles (ladybugs) coming up thru my vents. I was wondering what you guys thought would be the most probable problem. Maybe a hole in the vent system in the floor of the house or could they also somehow be coming thru the roof vents for the furnace? I also have a blend-air system installed.

Any advice would be appreciated. There really are alot of them this year and the majority are coming up the vents I think trying to get outside because it is getting warm out again here in Wisconsin. That would lead me to think something is wrong with the vents under the house. The furnace system is heating the house well and plenty of warm air comes out of all the vents when the furnace is running.


Thanks,

Mike Krivsky
1985 Wick 16'x66' Rollohome

[Maureen]

Hi Mike,

Now, that is really very odd! Lady bugs normally like sunshine and warm areas. The heating duct provides the warmth, but not the sunshine.

Is your skirting really tight and in good shape? Otherwise, I'd have to say that you have a bad belly and a hole in your duct work work. Skirting should be tight and in good shape, belly sealed up well and then of course plumbing and heat ducts in very good shape. If everything is tight and in good shape, very few critters should emerge from down under!

Maureen

[Handweaving]

Hi Mike,
I'm in Illinois and one of my sons lives in Minnesota. Each year we both seem to get the Japanese Beetles. So far I've had about one a day. Sometimes, when it's warmer there are more. I don't think anyone had them until a few years ago. They are not the regular lady bugs and I think they eat up things in a garden, not sure. I think that's what got my flowers and veggies last summer.
But, I don't know what to do about them. You may beable to find info at your local garden center.

[Sylvia]

The weekend we moved in this place in September 03, Iowa had a Japanese Beetle invasion. I sprayed down the outside of the house with a dish soap and water mixture and it helped a lot. They aren't anything like ladybugs and they BITE!

[Brenda (OH)]

Hi Mike,

I have seen those ladybugs make it through brand new vinyl windows with intact caulking, they don't like the cold apparently. I vacumn them up, since the type I deal with smell if you crush them, and stain the light paint orange also.

all I can figure is they squeeze through the fuzzy spacer strip that is around the window. I have had as many as 20 get in a day...

Brenda

[Yanita]

Hi,

Sounds like we have 3 different bugs entering homes here.

In my area of the world lady bugs are little tiny red hard shelled bodied bugs. They can fly and typically live on roses and such eating the aphids.

Japanese beetles are quite large, almost 1/2 inch long and sort of a green iridescent color. They are very destructive to roses. Will eat the center right out of the blooms and chew leaves off from alot of plants.

The third bug that stinks when you squish him, here in NC we call them stink bugs and again they look completely different than the other 2 bugs.

But, the original poster said these bugs regardless of which one it was is entering the home thru the registers. I have to agree with Maureen on this one.

You could throw a couple of pesticide spray bombs down under, or even try some mothballs. If you use the spray bombs and have a gas furnace or other heater running DO NOT USE THE SPRAY BOMB TILL THE UNITS ARE OFF, including the pilot lights. If you use the moth balls depending on the size of your home only a few small handfuls should be thrown under the home. If you can smell them in the home you have used to many.

Have a great day!

~Yanita~

[chaslo]

Lady Bugs are a beneficial insect to the garden. They eat aphids and other small critters off of plants. When you get many,many,many of them they really can be a nuisance. They come in many colors, they look like a Volkswagen with dots. A Japenese Beetle on the other hand is very destructive. I have seen them strip roses (which is their favorite food). I have battled them for about four years here in N.W. Arkansas and It is a battle. They look like what I've always called Junebugs. Except they are smaller. The traps for them can found at Wal-Mart or any garden center. I have found that trapping them and putting them in a closed container kills them. Then crush them and pour the contents around your roses. This acts as a repellant. I warn you crushing the Japenese beetles is gross and they smell awful but it does help keep the live ones off my roses. Another way to repel the Japanese Beetles is to boil a few hot chili peppers and make a tea. Strain and drain into a spray bottlle add a little dawn dishsoap and spray onto your plants that you want to protect. Try to spray the under side of the leaves also. Be very careful not to get the hot peppers on your hands and fingers and when making the tea make sure that you have very good ventilation. I wouldn't recommend boiling the peppers in an enclosed area your eyes will regret it. I think that any hot peppers will work. The hotter the better but also the more precaution you will have to take. They are from Japan and were brought over accidently ( i hope) on cargo ships. You can put milky spore on the ground to destroy the larvae. These critters are breeding machines. Females drop to the ground and lay their eggs and begin the process all over again. The larvae mature and the cycle begins again. Milky spore destroys the larvae. This approach would need to be a community effort to be succesful because you can kill the larvae in your yard but you can't in the surrounding neighboring area. I have also seen them strip adult nut trees of leaves. The Mississippi River was a natural barrier for a while. They were contained in the east till they evidently hitched a ride across a few years back. They really do not like the heat from the peppers. You will need to reapply the pepper spray after each rain. Good Luck! It has been too cold for the Japenese Beetles to emerge right now. At least for my area. I hope that this helps.

[Greg]

Just wanted to add, Lady bugs WILL bite!! other than that I don't think they really do damage. Greg

[klm9707]

We also have a beetle problem... "big time" but it is usually in the fall. They are not Japanese beetles, they are small red beetles that very closely resemble lady bugs. They come in through the smallest spaces and there is no way of keeping them out. Once they are in, they go under moldings and trims and any place they can find to hide. In some places out of reach of pets and kids I put out boric acid powder, which helps to kill them. But during the time that it is real bad, I also do the vacuum thing. You can pick up hundreds of them in a day with the vacuum. I put some boric acid powder in the vacuum with them then dump them down by the crick at the end of the day and start all over again the next.

[Sylvia]

These bugs do LOOK like ladybugs. They're an orange color instead of a red color.

Though I just googled them and it appears Iowa has been calling them the wrong name. I think I heard them called that on the news.

http://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/PPDL/weeklyp ... -01-1.html