Swarms of ladybirds are pouring into homes across the UK with some households reporting hundreds of the little insects climbing their walls, windows and doors.
This week, ladybirds have begun their annual migration into our houses as the weather turns colder and they seek out shelter inside our warmer homes ahead of winter. And already, many slightly alarmed people have reported seeing huge swarms of the shiny red beetles scuttling into their houses.
Now, experts are urging UK households to shut their windows and doors to keep them out – and these non-native ladybirds also carry sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
Posting in r/BritishProblems, one user, u/Hollyisthedog said on Tuesday: “Having to shut every window, vent and door so you don’t get bombarded by ladybirds. Damn things are still getting in though.”
Others agreed and said they have also been inundated by plagues of ladybirds. One said: “I’m in south Staffordshire and literally every time I go into the kitchen at the moment there’s a new ladybird.”
Another said: “There were swarms of them this weekend. I’m in West Yorkshire.”
Another adds: “I’m in Greater Manchester and when I got home from work today my house was covered in them. All over the walls, windows and doors. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
One poster, u/Silent-Detail4419, tried to solve why. They said: “Lady beetles. You’re seeing them more because the weather’s becoming cooler, and they’re looking for places to hibernate. The ones coming into your house will be Harlequin ladybirds, because our native ladybirds hibernate under logs, tree litter and rocks but because Harlequin ladybirds have been introduced from warmer climes, they seek out houses.
“They tend to start coming in at the beginning of October, which is why you’re seeing them now.”
Indeed, this explanation is backed up by experts at The Natural History Museum.
Max Barclay, Senior Curator of Beetles at the Museum, says: “There are a number of species of ladybirds that hibernate in big clusters. Ancestrally harlequin ladybirds would probably have hibernated in big clusters in caves, hollow trees and other sheltered places.
“In absence of these they may well try and gain entrance to your home. The easiest way for them to do this is through the small gaps along the edges of loose-fitting windows.”
Currently, harlequin ladybirds are mainly found in the south-east of the country, though it has slowly been pushing further north into the Midlands, and they carry sexually transmitted diseases. Fortunately, Max confirms these cannot pass to humans.
Max adds: “It is a fungus that forms little scales on the wing cases on the outside of the ladybird.
“You can actually see it with your naked eye and so can tell whether the ladybird is infected.
“It just looks like a yellow crust on some parts of the ladybird’s exoskeleton.
But this is no cause for concern, Max stresses. The STD is native and usually infects our own ladybird species. The fungus has simply found itself another host in the invasive harlequin ladybird and it cannot infect people.
“That is ridiculous,” adds Max. “It is a fungus that grows on the exoskeleton and we don’t have one of these, and we don’t have sex with ladybirds.”
While it is thought to have a limited impact on some native species, the invasive ladybird is now so well-established that it is effectively here to stay, the NHM says.
Max adds: “These are not anything to panic about.
“First off they can’t give you diseases, they can’t hurt you and they’re not going to completely exterminate our native fauna.
“They are going to find some kind of balance, even if that includes them in reasonably large numbers.”
So if you want to stop the insects from entering your home, just make sure your doors and windows are fully sealed and insulated, the Natural History Museum says.
