A few warm days fooled the ladybugs into coming out of hiding. There they were — a few on the windowsill, one or two on the bedside rug; Sam pointed to the ceiling and asked, “Is that a spot?”
“No, it’s two ladybugs.”
Another half-dozen were in the kitchen crawling around inside the florescent light cover.
Last year I caught ladybugs and put them in a critter box. I hoped to winter them, then release them into the garden come spring.
Ladybugs are pretty little things, and they’re beneficial bugs. They eat aphids off plants. The yucca plant in the sunroom hosted an aphid party. I continually placed ladybugs on its leaves, but the aphids were a bit much for the few ladybugs. So, on a warm day I moved the plant outdoors and hosed it down. I resorted to Pyrethrin to extinguish the aphids.
You can tell if a plant has aphids by the shiny sticky residue left on the leaves and the sunroom floor. The aphids will not damage the plant, but the sticky floor is a problem.
In the fall I decided not to capture ladybugs as adding about 90 more mouths to feed, along with three ducks, three rabbits, four goldfish, one beta fish, one finicky cat, and Sam and me was just too much. I left the pretties to fend for themselves.
The upstairs unoccupied bedroom with a southwest exposure gets deliciously warm. On almost any day you can find a ladybug, or two, or three, or four on a curtain, under the bed or in your hair.
This year in the warm bedroom I found two green stink bugs. When I was a child Momma warned me not to touch the stink bugs because they emitted a terrible stink. Obviously I touched them and well remember the odor.
These two stink bugs were iridescent green and so, of course, I touched them. I found as an adult that the odor was not nearly as offensive as my childhood memory. The color was fascinating, like a jewel.
The stink bug (also called a green soldier bug), much like the ladybug, has minimal nutritional needs during winter. The slowed metabolism is called “diapause,” and like the ladybug the stink bug can be roused during high heat, like the warmth of the southwestern bedroom.
The stink bug has a life span of about six to eight months. The “stink glands” are located on the underside, and the liquid was once dried and used commercially in certain acids to reinforce the acid’s pungent smell.
The little stinker is an import from Eastern Asia and its scientific name is “Chinavia hilaris” which if you will repeat out loud you may find a bit hilarious.
Chinavia hilaris are generally considered pests since they feed on seeds and foliage. I have found the most effective removal for such household pests from the warm southwestern bedroom is the vacuum cleaner.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 45 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 45 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
