Question
We are INFESTED every year by Asian lady beetles.  They get into our siding, windows, trim edging, attic, EVERYWHERE!  Suggestions?  Anything would be appreciated.  We live in the North Georgia/(about 20 minutes from Chattanooga, TN.) area.Thanks!  Our house is about 9 years old and appears well build but these little pests stop at nothing!

Answer
In the fall of the year, multi-colored Asian lady beetles begin to seek out cavities where they will spend the winter hibernating. They require cavities that will stay cool and dry and offer concealment. Throughout their native range in Asia, the adult beetles seek out cavities in cliff faces and other naturally occurring cool, dry cavities. In our part of the world, they have found equivalent winter quarters in the exterior of buildings. They are most commonly found gathering in the fall on the sun-facing exposure of the building --usually a southern exposure. This activity often results in the beetles getting into the inhabited portions of the building. In the spring, they will all leave.

Even on cold winter days there are often times when the wind is calm and it is sunny. On these days (especially later in the winter when days grow longer), there is sufficient radiant energy on sunny exposures (especially southern exposures) to warm the siding. If the temperatures where the beetles are hibernating get near 50 degrees F, some beetles will wake up and begin crawling around. Some or many will then find their way into inhabited areas of the house.

Even though there are measures that can be taken to eliminate the beetles as they appear in the house, the long-term solution to eliminating your beetle "problem" in the house is prevention.

Outdoors preventative tactics
Beginning in the early fall, monitor the sunlit side of your buildings for swarming beetles. These are areas where they will collect prior to moving into hibernation sites. You can apply an insecticide registered for outdoor use. If it is practical, caulk obvious cracks and spaces where the beetles can gain access, check attic vent screens and repair if necessary, caulk wherever a pipe, conduit, telephone or cable TV wire goes through the siding, and ensure that the weather seal on basement windows is tight.

Indoors preventative tactics
Making the effort to eliminate points of entry from the outside into hibernating areas is helpful. The real key to prevention is to also conduct the same inspection on the inside walls and make repairs, where necessary. After all, you probably wouldn't care how many multi-colored Asian lady beetles were hibernating under your siding, in your walls voids and attic if none of them entered your living space. Pay close attention and caulk all those places where pipes, conduits and wires come through the walls. You can use an insecticide indoors, but we don't recommend it. Why? One of the biggest reasons is that the weather outdoors is still cool or cold and the furnace is running. That means the house is closed up and the insecticide is being re-circulated throughout the home -- probably not a good idea. Additionally, when the bugs you have sprayed die, you will have to clean them up anyway. That is why we suggest using a vacuum to eliminate the beetles. A dust buster-type vacuum is ideal because it has a bag that can be emptied.

For large infestations with intolerable numbers of beetles, spraying pyrethroid insecticides such as permethrin or esfenvalerate to the outside of buildings when the beetles appear may help prevent pest entry. Homeowner insecticides other than pyrethroids usually do not provide satisfactory prevention.