The only good thing I can think of about the drought is that mosquitoes weren't much of a problem this summer. Bugs were down overall, I think.
One day before we had a frost, there was an explosion of tiny flying things. You may have to click the picture to enlarge it enough to see, but it was clearly spider heaven.
Now that it has frozen and warmed up again, the explosion is of those ladybug look-alikes, Asian ladybird beetles (Harmonia axyridis).
Harmonia! If ever a species needed renaming, it's this one. How about Discordia detestabile. OK you can tell I don't really know Latin, but you get the idea.
Lucky we are past our ladybug phase and love your spider picture! Bravo!
ReplyDeleteWe had an infestation of the Asian Ladybugs the first year that we lived in our house. Thankfully they never came back.
ReplyDeleteVery informative. I had no idea there was a lookalike but I have seen them here and there.
ReplyDeleteHow do you clean these detestabiles up at your house? Any tricks? Vacuuming them produces a stench.
ReplyDeletei never heard a bad word about a ladybug. i thought they were the one perfect insect/friend of all. what is the downside? signed, a city slicker;-)
ReplyDeletePS while i have you on the line, i want to thank you for the previous post phot clip of a pumpkin. stunning!
We have the Asian Ladybugs in Eastern Kansas also. Your post was informative. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom, I hope we will be past ours soon. I have never been so glad that I leave the spiders to their corners on the ceiling. My new favorite spider has trapped at least 2 dozen I think.
ReplyDeleteKD, the adults tend to return to the same place apparently so you are very lucky not to have seen them again.
MB, you know I hardly ever see a REAL one anymore. But they are a darker red.
Cathy, no, spraying doesn't work and I don't really want to anyway. They are going to smell no matter what. I have been squshing them. I know they can be beneficial, but they are aliens with no predators and they bite.
Tamar, the regular ladybug is wonderful and I think everyone has a soft spot for that one. But these are non-native insects that were brought in from Asia. They look like what we normally call ladybugs, but they're different. They smell bad and are invasive... and yep they bite... hard!
Linda, sorry to hear that you have them too!
Ha! Detestibile indeed!
ReplyDeleteWe just started seeing those bugs in our house again. I don't know where they are getting in, but they are buggin' me.
ReplyDeleteLovely photo!
I love little spider guys.
ReplyDeleteI also love those big, hairy tarantulas...who actually are quite gently...just scary looking.