subject: What Are Asian Ladybugs? [print this page] Harmonia Axyridis is commonly known as Asian Lady beetle, or Japanese ladybug in North America. This beetle is native to most Asian countries like China, Russia, Korea, and Japan where it dwells in trees and fields, eating aphids and scale insects.
Adult Asian ladybugs are oval, curved and about -inch long. They vary in color generally from tan to orange to red. More often, they have numerous of black spots on the wing covers, while other beetles have unclear or entirely absent spots. Multi-spotted individuals tend to be females while those with few or no spots tend to be males.
The eggs of these beetles are yellow and oval-shaped and are mostly laid in clusters on the undersides of leaves. The larvae looks like tiny alligators and are often orange and black in color. The larvae stage completes its development on plants where aphids are abundant. It will take over one month for an egg to become a fully developed adult and they can live up to three years.
Asian lady beetles sleep through winter or cooler months, though they will wake up and move around whenever the temperature reaches about 10 C (50 F). Because the beetles will use crevices and other cool, dry, confined spaces to sleep through winter, important numbers may gather together inside walls if given a large enough opening.
Asian lady beetle in its inhabitant is primarily tree-dwelling, living in forests and orchards. In Japan, they are many in soybean fields. In the U.S., the beetles inhabit ornamental and agricultural crops, as well as roses, corn, soybeans, alfalfa and tobacco. All over spring and winter, the larvae and adults feed mainly on aphids, consuming hundreds per day.
They are typically useful insects in that all active stages are predators of garden pests like aphids and spider mites. Meaning to say, we want lady beetles in our gardens. The trouble happens when adult beetles try to enter in our homes in the fall with the purpose of sheltering there until spring.
These Ladybugs are helpful in our garden especially in controlling pests. Numerous benefits we can get in these beetles, but when a number of these beetles come inside in our homes, they can be a problem. They are not harmful to humans. They just emit an acrid odor and can stain surfaces with their yellowish secretions when disturbed. Just try to control them by not letting them get inside in your homes.
There are number of ways on how to control them. There are lots of procedures on how to take advantage of them properly and carefully by not harming them. We don't need to destroy these useful insects for they helps a lot in our garden. All we need is to find a way on how to prevent them in coming inside in our homes especially during winter.
