Ladybirds

The ladybirds began arriving in ones and twos as the weather turned chilly. I noticed one on the bathroom window screen and wondered how it got there because the window was shut. I opened the window, flicked the ladybird outside, and closed it.

The next day as I brushed my teeth, a movement in the corner of my eye turned my attention to the window screen. A ladybird again. Muttering about sneaky bugs I flicked this one out too and shut the window tight.

These were the first salvo in what became an onslaught of ladybirds. This was our second year living in London. Our first one was ladybird-free. In the second year we moved to a flat surrounded by gardens, which probably explained the ladybird invasion.

The ladybirds, I discovered, belong to the beetle family and the ones invading our home were most likely harlequin ladybirds (Harmonia axyridis). They were introduced to the UK in 2004 as a natural pest control because they eat insects that infest farms and gardens. Harlequin ladybirds, voracious predators that can have multiple broods throughout spring, soon out-competed native species to became one of the most common ladybirds in the UK. All ladybirds hibernate during winter. They normally hibernate in cracks in tree barks and rocks but they will also make do with cracks in doors and windows. Given their sheer numbers some find their way inside our homes.

All through September, the bugs were relentless. We shut doors and windows extra tight but they still found their way in. They would come in through cracks in window frames and through tiny openings between the door and its frame. We would catch and then release outside each bug we found. Despite our no-kill policy (which we also extend to spiders), my partner or I would accidentally step on one and the ladybird would die smudging the carpet bright yellow.

We needed better strategy and equipment if we did not want to spend the entire day expelling ladybirds or accidentally squashing them. So we armed ourselves with a jam jar and a piece of cardboard. Every morning we would inspect the surface around garden-facing windows for stray bugs. We flicked each one into the jam jar with the cardboard. We repeated the process a couple of times in the morning and dunked the jam jar out into the garden in the afternoon. This we found was the most efficient and ladybird-safe process to remove stray ones that got in.

Collecting stray ladybirds became a strangely meditative activity once we got past our initial annoyance. It helped that the ladybirds looked like shiny, multi-colored beads on the wall. They came in red, yellow, orange, and even black with spotted patterns on their backs. At the end of a morning’s work, we would have a jam jar full of what looked like moving buttons.

One day I followed the trail of ten or so ladybirds to the terrace door. Since the jam jar was full already, I opened the door and lo, a shower of ladybugs fell to the floor. The unsuspecting bugs must have gathered to hibernate in a gap between the top of the door and the frame. For the next fifteen minutes my partner and I joined forces to collect them and then threw them out. Herding ladybirds must be right up there along with herding cats except that ladybirds are better at hiding.

By the end of September, the ladybirds coming inside had slowed down to a trickle. We had declared truce. They could hibernate in the window frames as long as the cracks opened to outside the house. And strictly no hibernating on door frames. A shower of ladybugs is not something we want to experience twice. Of course, they were free to hibernate in any nooks and crannies we could not find.

We now await round two. The ladybirds will awake from hibernation in April.