Blasted Lady Bugs
It's been about 4 weeks since our last trip and what with one thing and another we decided this season was done and we'd winterize. We hadn't been in Rocky since we got back other than to run the vac...
Forum Discussion
A little follow-up from the New York Times in 2002. I will leave you to guess which variety you have locally.
Q. Why have ladybugs changed their colors? Once red, now almost all are orange.
A. There are well over 400 species of ladybugs in North America, but depending on where you live, you may be seeing more and more representatives of the multicolored Asian lady beetle, or Harmonia axyridis. Though their colors can vary widely, from yellow to orange to red to black, orange is common.
Over the last century, this species was introduced into this country both accidentally and purposefully (in some cases by the United States Department of Agriculture) and has established itself in many states. An accidental release from a freighter in New Orleans is suspected as the source of its most recent spread.
The Asian beetle is valuable in controlling crop pests, particularly the aphids that feed on pecan trees, but it has now often become an irritating but not noxious house pest, swarming as it seeks a warm place to spend the winter.
Q. Why have ladybugs changed their colors? Once red, now almost all are orange.
A. There are well over 400 species of ladybugs in North America, but depending on where you live, you may be seeing more and more representatives of the multicolored Asian lady beetle, or Harmonia axyridis. Though their colors can vary widely, from yellow to orange to red to black, orange is common.
Over the last century, this species was introduced into this country both accidentally and purposefully (in some cases by the United States Department of Agriculture) and has established itself in many states. An accidental release from a freighter in New Orleans is suspected as the source of its most recent spread.
The Asian beetle is valuable in controlling crop pests, particularly the aphids that feed on pecan trees, but it has now often become an irritating but not noxious house pest, swarming as it seeks a warm place to spend the winter.
