Ladybug Infestations
A couple of recent events have led me to explore how to handle bug infestations in a non-toxic house or office. Ladybugs are interesting because, in the garden,they can be a welcome and natural source of pest control, but in your home or office they can be, well, annoying. Here are some non toxic tips for ladybug infestations.
It turns out it's a bad idea to touch ladybugs. They give off some sort of yellow fluid that could stain your clothes and also could burn if you got it in your eyes.
If you want to pick up a bunch all at once, you can wrap duct tape around your hand inside out and then rub the sticky part over them to collect them.
If you vacuum them up, you have to be sure to immediately empty out the bag or the live ones will just crawl back out. You can also put a stocking over the hose and vacuum them up and then throw away the stocking.
Other options to get rid of unwanted ladybugs:
A couple of recent events have led me to explore how to handle bug infestations in a non-toxic house or office. Ladybugs are interesting because, in the garden,they can be a welcome and natural source of pest control, but in your home or office they can be, well, annoying. Here are some non toxic tips for ladybug infestations.
It turns out it's a bad idea to touch ladybugs. They give off some sort of yellow fluid that could stain your clothes and also could burn if you got it in your eyes.
If you want to pick up a bunch all at once, you can wrap duct tape around your hand inside out and then rub the sticky part over them to collect them.
If you vacuum them up, you have to be sure to immediately empty out the bag or the live ones will just crawl back out. You can also put a stocking over the hose and vacuum them up and then throw away the stocking.
Other options to get rid of unwanted ladybugs:
- Burn lemon scented candles - they don't like that scent
- Put ammonia on a cloth and rub it over your windows and other places where they congregate
- Put diatomaceous earth or borax around the places where they seem to come in. Be careful with both of these as you don't want to inhale them (you can wear a mask when you put it out). Once you put it out, it's fine. This also works for fleas. In fact, you can put diatomaceous earth outside in your yard to reduce fleas. You can also plant herbs and plants that repel bugs such as lemon balm, lavender, peppermint and marigold.
- Put a container of vinegar with a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid near where they congregate. This will attract them and the dishwashing liquid means they won't be able to get out because it will increase the weight of the water. This also works for the little flying bugs that sometimes hang out around house plants.
- If possible, seal off the area that seems to be their point of entry.
- It turns out saying "Ladybug, ladybug fly away home," is not necessarily effective!