Mass Swarms of Ladybugs literally turn town red!

Wow, I dont know if anyone has seen this, but I thought I would share this, since its interesting and bizarre. This is from a small town in Colorado , they wont disclose the town because the residents like the quiet life.

Does anyone know if this is normal??? Or is there yet another species going crazy?

reply to post by Yummy Freelunch


WOW! I have never seen so many in one place before. I love ladybugs, but that's overdose.

I'm curious if this is normal too.

S&F for you

[edit on 12-7-2009 by ahimsa]

reply to post by Yummy Freelunch


Hi Yum,

Yes, I think it is another species going crazy because our world is going crazy.

We cannot do anything to stop it.

reply to post by ahimsa


I love them too! And I could think of worse things to have invade our town, but yes, it's a bit much!!! Crazy isnt it They are cute , though.

Here it's ants. No matter how clean a place is you will see ants. This area seems to be sitting on top of major colonies now. About 15 years ago we started noticing the ant problem. Now it's so bad I keep wondering when the ground under us will just give way and we will be in the colonies.

I will gladly trade 90% of the ants here for 90% of their ladybugs. And yes, they are very cute.

HAHA, we have ants too, at least they really arent harmful, but they leave an awful smelling chemical. Better than roaches!! lol

Are these actual lady bugs or the cursed Asian beetle look alikes? I say cursed because,unlike the true lady bugs,Asian beetles bite people!These swarm in the fall when the soybeans are harvested,which is where they lurk and feed on aphids all Summer.They REALLY taste nasty if they land in your morning coffee and you havn't checked before taking a sip.A silicone cup cover is highly to be recommended.Also they are introduced by the DNR.The true lady bird beetles have a really cool larval stage and there is a way to tell apart by counting spots.I have not seen an actual Lady Bug hereabouts in awhile as these eat those as well.

Thanks truforger, I didn't even know about these. Here's a link about them.

Asian Ladybugs

reply to post by Yummy Freelunch


These are the small black ants and they have just started biting and when they get scared they give off an ammonia smell.

reply to post by trueforger


Where I am living, late summer through early fall, we get the asian ladybug attack. They stink, they bite, they are annoying. None of the bug predators will eat them, probably because they taste nasty. I consider it more of a infestation.

Wow, they could catch them all and cash in on the market for red food coloring. Lucky them.

Back in the 70s we had major swarm of lady birds in NW England. We had 2 really hot summers & they were everywhere!
You couldn't walk around or sit down without accidentally squashing them. Normal lady birds do stink as well, when they're squashed... of earwax! I can still remember it.
I hear its a hot year in the USA? Bad news for aphids = good news for gardeners!

reply to post by Yummy Freelunch


I live in Kentucky and we are infested with Asian beetles each year. Most people call them lady bugs, but they are more orange than true lady bugs and not as pretty. And they reek! They usually show up in the fall and if a few of them manage to make it inside, it's not unusual to see them on the ceiling or around windows on and off all winter. Many people have tried to get exterminators to spray for them, but they wont because it's illegal.

Rumor has it that they were released by the government to help with the aphid problem and were expected to just die out when cold weather came, but instead, they actually thrived. They may help with the aphid problem, but they're annoying. That's for sure.

We have large sunroom windows and these things get ALL OVER them once or twice a year.

Whenever my cat manages to get one, the smell could empty a room. They are nasty smelling little guys in their death throes.

[edit on 7/12/0909 by spines]

Wow, I dont suppose Ive smelled them!!
Well in the video, they are crawling all over the people, so I was assuming not the asian type, since they bite. I just guess Ive never seen so many in one place!!! Amazing nature

I've never heard of Asian Beetles before, but up until now I wouldv'e sworn lady bugs bit. I've thought they were lady bugs for a long time. When I was 17 I was at my girlfriends house there were lady bugs all over the side of her house.When I took notice to them she said to leave them alone they bite and that they come here every year around this time stay about a month and leave. So stupid me says "no they don't bite and I'll prove it". I put one on my arm and within seconds the bastard started biting me. I've always blamed the lady bug, but now i have a new enemy. Thanks for clearing this up for me.

It's all about barometric pressure. Insects are very sensitive to the barometric pressure, which triggers certain parts of their life-cycles. This is why flying ants all fly at the same time. Ladybirds are not a colony species, so it's likely that conditions are very favorable for that particular species in that area and the weather triggered all of them to mature at the same time.

Quite spectacular.

Ok here my attempt to explain.

Lady Bugs (of most type of the species and these look american) are benificial.

1. Lady Bugs eat aphids, aphids eat plants, so you want lady bugs arround thats why you don't kill them.

2. If you have alot of Lady Bugs like any other spieces other then humans then you have alot of food arround for them. So therefor you have alot of aphids in that area.

to go further..

To have alot of aphids you need alot of plants...

Did you notice alot of rain this year? Yep the Storm systems are further north this year because of the sea temps are cooler in the tropics and slightly warmer in the north. see: www.nhc.noaa.gov...

This is causing more rain across north america then normal. In Colorado where I live we are 1 inch above normal for rainfall. I am sure this is going on elsewhere.

So we have plants getting more rain and plenty of sunlight and lots of CO2 that means higher plant growth. Basic plant biology there.

That means populations of insects will rise both good and bad. It would be intresting to see if there are other stories like this going on across the country it would prove this theory to some degree.

I am in the midwest US. 2 years ago there were dead crickets all over this town. Carwashes had more but sidewalks and parking lots were covered as well. And 2 weeks prior there dead birds everywhere. Is it possible pesticides or mosquito spraying caused that? It never made it in the news but everyone in town was freaking out. It may have been 3 years ago but no longer than that. The days go by too fast for me to have accurate dates anymore.


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i wonder if the infestation has anything to do with
all the bats that have died off recently?