From shadev@ext.missouri.eduSun Mar 12 21:35:29 1995 Date: 11 Mar 95 10:44:51 cdt From: Victoria Tory Shade To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Lady Beetle Disaster Was RE: USDA Dear Folks, I'm sorry. I can't resist throwing more fuel to the fire of this discussion. I hope those of you in non-SE parts of the country enjoy hearing about our trials... Some years ago after much research (78-82) the multicolored Asian Lady Beetle - Harmonia axyridis - was released by USDA to deal with an aphid problen (possibly on southern pine trees?). It seemed to disappear and the experiment was thought to be a failure. Surprise! Suddenly it started showing up in large numbers and now has spread up the Atlantic Coast and through SE states. It's been in Missouri since the 92-93 winter with steadily growing numbers. They're doing a great deal of good in attacking almost any kind of aphid - and will go whereever there is food - alfalfa and other field crops, home gardens and in the city. The cotton farmers in SE Missouri are absolutely estatic with the great aphid control. Up here in the Ozark Hills I suspect that our visitors are enjoying the recent excess of aphids in Maple trees. So, maybe before too long there won't be as many folks complaigning about the "tree sap" (aphid honey dew) that ruins their car's finishes. So, that's all to the good and things might seem to be working like a dream example of the release of a beneficial insect for pest control. There's just one problem. The home habitat for these Japanese lady beetles allows them to join together in friendly colonies of thousands to hibernate over the winter in the crevices of cliffs and rocky hillsides. Here in the US the next best thing to home looks like OUR homes! These beneficial insects are now well on their was to being considered a MAJOR HOUSEHOLD PEST. In the fall they start to congregate on the South and West sides of light colored buildings, with a seeming preference for clapboard siding. As experienced crevice finders they find their way through tiny cracks into the walls, around the windows, into attic areas, etc. Then as winter advances warm days bring them out exploring in the wrong direction - the inside of the homes. They come out in the hundreds, sometimes covering large sections of walls or ceilings. After a few weeks the shear numbers mean that some travel to all parts of the house, with a seeming preference for the kitchen. While apparently not known for disease transmittal they do sometimes leave a slimy smear behind them. They also have a distinct stink when squashed, whether by mistake or not. None of these habits are appreciated by the home's normal inhabitants...people. Especially since some are confused enough to think the lady beetles are potato or bean bugs or are bitting insects. Some seem to think that they'll mutate into plant eating pests. And one newspaper article (I forget, either Kentucky or Georgia) told of the trials of getting dressed in the morning when ladybugs are inside your underpants and of bathing when the little jewels are in your bath tub. Some people, having sprayed or vacuumed them all up on one day - only to find hundreds more in the same place the next morning - are sure that they're breeding inside (they don't). But those who are "enlightened" enough to catch these beneficial insects and release them outside are starting to make jokes about "banding" the little marvels with a blue dot - like they do for queen bees, just to see if it's the same ones coming in over and over again. (it probably isn't). However, even those of us who appreciate the later-in-the-year garden services are, after the third year of this *invasion*, starting to resort to the vacuum cleaner. Now in theory, this "alien" population explosion will only last 4-5 years before it crashes and then eventually the population will stabilize at a natural "native" level. That means we get to play this game ONLY 1-2 more years. IF the theory is right. Oh joy! So there are now thousands of people who are PO'd at USDA's very well-meaning release of this beneficial insect. Sigh. For those who are curious: How to ID the adult Asian lady beetle: general color is yellow to yellowish-orange. the wing-covers may have as many as 19 black spots or none or any number between! In Missouri we look from the rear at the white pronotum (the part between the wings and the head) to see the large black capital M marking. (Of course if it gets up to Wisconsin you'd want to look at it from the front to see the W). (Some of the above info provided to Missouri Extension staff by entomology specialists Drs Darryl Sanders and Ben Puttler. Puttler is currently exploring lady beetle parasites that might affect the population curve and cause an earlier crash. Hope. Hope.) Tory Shade, host to some of the thousands... Farm Management Specialist & Small Farm Family Program Southeast Region, University Extension-Missouri Courthouse Basement, PO Box 218 Greenville, MO 63944 USA (314) 224-3221 ext 31 [314] 224-3225 INTERNET: shadev@ext.missouri.edu