Ladybugs swarm county

Lawrence residents may notice little red and orange dots on their walls and ceilings. Those dots are some of the thousands of ladybugs that have taken residence in Lawrence for the winter.

The ladybugs, known scientifically as Asian ladybird beetles, commonly swarm over Lawrence before winter. Ladybugs, which originate in Asia, leave their homes in trees around Lawrence between September and November to find warmer places, like the inside of homes.

The difference this year is the warm weather has yet to go away. So the ladybugs have come inside for the cooler days, only to find their way back outisde on the warmer days.

With the number of warm days dwindling away for the year, residentes like Marti Funke have to deal with more bugs in the house.

"It's kind of nice to see ladybugs around outside, but I hate having them inside. I try to sweep them up or scoop them up, but I sometimes crush them and they leak yellow goo," Funke said.

The "goo" is the ladybugs' protection against predators. Though not poisonous, the yellow liquid leaves a stain and a smell of dead leaves.

University of Kansas entomologist Chip Taylor suggests another solution to the ladybug problem that doesn't involve smashing the bugs to get rid of them.

"People can just vacuum the ladybugs up with a low power vacuum and bag them up. You can just put them outside or save them until next spring," Taylor said.

The largest swarm this fall hit Lawrence on the weekend of Nov. 3, when the KU football team played the University of Nebraska. Taylor had a chance encounter.

"When KU was scoring all those touchdowns against Nebraska, I started to stop paying attention to the game. I just started paying attention to all the ladybird beetles landing on me and the people sitting around me," Taylor said.

The ladybugs should disappear next week as snow is predicted for the following weekend. After that, Lawrence residents shouldn't see the ladybugs again until spring.