Suddenly they are everywhere: Ladybugs are more common in the house and garden on autumn days. We’ll reveal what that means and how you can help the little lucky charms.
The ladybugs sit in large swarms in the autumn sun on house walls and on window sills. Their appearance as a group unsettles many home and garden owners, some suspect some kind of plague, others see it as a good omen.
The reality is less spectacular: In years with particularly warm and dry summers, ladybugs can reproduce well. In autumn the lucky beetles look for a suitable place to hibernate. To do this, they get together in large groups to hike to warmer regions or to look for shelter here. In doing so, they take short breaks on the walls of houses or on the windowsill.
Ladybug in the garden
To make it easier for the ladybirds to search, you can provide suitable winter quarters. Popular are for example:
- Pile of leaves: This is where the ladybugs are often found in large numbers. Hedgehogs also like to hide in piles of leaves. We reveal here how to make your garden hedgehog-friendly.
- Wood piles and dead wood ticks: Ideally, these should not be moved during the winter so that the beetles are not crushed.
- Ladybug House: A small, straw-filled house with horizontal entry slots that is placed in a sunny, dry place. You can buy a ladybug house or you can easily make it yourself.
- Inflorescences, stalks and perennials: Do not cut back your garden plants completely, because the dry inflorescences, leaves and stems not only provide winter quarters for the ladybirds, but also protect the roots of the plants from the cold.
In a untidy garden, ladybugs generally find more opportunities to overwinter, for example under moss, in dry stone walls, in old trees or under their bark. So consider not being too strict about autumn garden cleaning. In addition to the ladybirds, many other beneficial insects benefit from this.
With all these measures you are not only doing something good for the ladybirds, but also for yourself: On the one hand, enough wintering places mean that you can look forward to a large number of spotted insect killers next spring. On the other hand, however, you prevent the beetles from simply moving in with you due to a lack of housing.
Ladybug in the apartment
One or two ladybugs are quite nice, but if a large group of ladybugs gets into the apartment, it quickly becomes uncomfortable. In addition to a large offer of shelter, home remedies can also prevent ladybugs from entering the apartment:
- Sounds simple, and it is too: The best way to keep your apartment free from ladybugs is not to let them come inside. An insect screen keeps the animals out.
- Certain fragrances also have a deterrent effect. These include, for example, vanilla, bay leaf and lavender. Either place the herbs and spices directly on the windowsill or put a little essential oil on the window.
- Once the beetles have entered the apartment, carefully collect them with a broom and shovel and take them outside. If there are too many beetles, the sock trick is a good idea: Put an old sock over the vacuum cleaner pipe and suck the animals in at the lowest level. So you can easily collect all the bugs in the sock and bring them outside.
Under no circumstances should you let the beetles hibernate in the warm. Otherwise they will not fall into winter rigor, which means an increased energy consumption, while at the same time they will not find enough food and so starve. You should therefore always bring the ladybugs outside and it is best to place them near a suitable place to sleep.
