Swarming ladybirds

Oddly enough, I’ve just been pegging out some more laundry and there’s loads here too. And some species of ladybird can ‘bite’ or so I’ve heard so I’d best make sure to not bring any in with the dry wash8ng.

Two people have told me today about theirs.
They live in varying places. Not near each other at all.

One had it about 4 years ago as well.
They hung aroound for about 3 days initially.
Then were still to be found in nooks and crevices during the winter months.

Yes I believe they can bite. Our washing can stay out there for the moment!

Same here. Last time was when I moved in 8 years ago- quite a few of them spent the winter in the corners of my bathroom walls and windows- then come Spring they all flew off!!

They're looking for somewhere to hibernate.

My neighbour said she has a lot - last year it was us.
Persuade them to leave the house, they'll go and find somewhere else.

Me too..
We have had this before and the little critters get into all sorts of places. We see them hanging around for months and months in the house. No idea how they get into the house?

It's been a hot afternoon today , but we had to keep the windows shut, as they will come in.

I’ve been caught up in a swarm last Sunday at my birthday lunch when our party went outside and again today when picking up my GCs from school. There is a lovely churchyard opposite so if we are a bit early we sit there. There were thousands of them.

We had them swarming on our front windows today. It was a bit like a scene from a weird sci fi film.

Twenty years or so ago, Dh amd I were sitting on a Kent beach and swarms of ladybirds flew in from France?
Some settled on my arms and legs and I said aren't they sweet until they started biting me.
It was a warm sunny autumn day like today.

Loads here today too.
Did you know that the collective noun is loveliness - a loveliness of ladybirds

Yes they're Harlequin ladybirds which hibernate en masse as separate from our native ladybirds which are solitary. I had them all over the outside of my bungalow yesterday trying to find a way in! I was sneaking in and out the patio doors which they hadn't found.

They are now disappearing under the rim of a waterbutt which is where they normally hibernate - heaven knows why - but the lid stays on till spring unless I want to pick sleeping ladybirds out of the water!

My Mum had problems with them for years and then one day, they left as suddenly as they had arrived. Fortunately she didn't mind them. I found it a bit creepy!

The yellow and black numbers are, indeed, harlequin ladybirds. We had them in the bedroom at the end of last year - hundreds of the blinking things. Citronella incense sticks saw them off. I was told that they tend to enter the house if there is a sycamore tree nearby.

There’s good and bad!

Can if Raid should do the trick.

Or use essential oil spray mix.

Raid! Oh no. Citronella is kinder.

We used to live in a Georgian house with sash windows and the ladybirds used to come in and swarm over the panes when the weather turned colder. They also used to go up inside the channels where the sashes run, so when we opened and closed the windows they fell out in huge quantities. I assume that they used to hibernate inside the windows.
As we have UPVC windows not we have no ladybirds at all!

None of the ladybirds were the native species, I can't remember the last time I saw one of them.

I’m in the northwest and we’ve had lots here too over the past couple of days . Normally we only see very few at the beginning of summer . Very odd .

Alas I have not seen a single ladybird all summer in Bucks.

They were all over the runner beans, presumably eating aphids.

Hundreds of them swarmed on the inside of my front door a few days ago. Each day there have been less as when the door opens there can be a cold blast of air.
I don't think it was a good spot for them to settle.

Had problems with them for years. Always go for the white on the windows and in everything in the house, in the curtains, bedding, all over. Whenever we have a warm spell they invade big time.

They are Harequin ladybirds an invasive species from Asia and actually carry a fungal and STD infection but will not harm humans and they do not bite.

If an windows open I cannot begin to tell you the invasion I have in the house, they eat our native ladybirds and smell something awful if you pick them up to get rid of. Can't get rid of the smell on your hands.

It was pure freaky here on Tuesday and a neighbour came round and said wouldn't have believed it if not seen with his own eyes. All over the outside window panes, crawling up the walls, flying at me, I love wildlife but hate these.

They sound horrible things. Haven’t seen any here, just a normal ladybird or two on my flowerpots.