Ladybug look alike causing problems for Quebecers

The ladybug look alike or Asian lady beetles are proving to be a challenge for some Quebecers, as many are finding their homes swarmed by them.

“There’s nothing you can do. They’re there to stay,” says André-Philippe Drapeau Picard, an entomologist at the Montreal Insectarium.

Asian lady beetles are one of 80 species of lady beetles introduced in the 1980s to control insects which impact crops, unlike native ladybug species these ones are less tolerant of freezing temperatures.

Picard says “each fall when it gets colder outside, is when they seek shelter to spend the winter and our homes are particularly interesting for them.”

André-Philippe Drapeau Picard (Photo Credit: CityNews)

He says, the beetles are the most common lady beetles in Montreal and that their seeking shelter from the cold has been a continuous pattern in Fall.

“Most are red with black dots, but some are orange, and some are even yellow. Some have fewer dots. Some have no dots.”

According to Picard, you can tell these lady beetles apart from others by looking at the back of their head.

Seven-spotted lady beetle (Coccinella septempunctata) – Insectarium de Montréal (Laurent Desaulniers)

Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis) – Insectarium de Montréal (André Sarrazin)

Convergent lady beetle (Hippodamia convergens) – Insectarium de Montréal (René Limoges)

“One criteria to make sure you are looking at one of them is a spot on the top of their heads they have M shape spots.”

For Candace Ernst, she says she has always felt lucky to see a ladybug. She makes a wish every time she sees one. After her parent’s home was swarmed by Asian Lady Beetles, she has a greater appreciation for native ladybugs.

She describes seeing “a cluster,” of thousands of the beetles everywhere. An experience she and her mother Roxanne Marsh say they do not want to go through again.

“We looked across the room and it was just like from floor to ceiling beetles. Like a couple of feet wide, a swarm.” Marsh says they were “spreading out over the ceiling, down the wall…out on the floor, it was unreal,”

For others who may come across these beetles, Picard says there is no need to worry other than a bad smell and their invasive nature Asian lady beetles are harmless.

Once touched or moved, he says “they can be foul smelling, they have this compound so that they can secrete to defend themselves. So when there’s a lot of insects, it can smell inside the house, but you can always control them. You can use the vacuum, vacuum them and take them outside. But they are not dangerous for humans or houses.”