Call us for help at Request Help Menu. Our staff is standing by to take your call. Creature Control's experts are ready to help solve your animal problem. Give us the details of your issue and we'll get back to you shortly with information and how we can address it. The Asian lady beetle not to be confused with the indigenous American ladybug is an invasive species of the Coccinellidae family introduced into the United States in for the purpose of reducing native aphid populations.
Multicolored Asian Ladybeetle - Plant & Pest Diagnostics
Large numbers of lady beetles ladybugs infesting homes and buildings in the United States were first reported in the early s. Ladybugs normally are considered beneficial since they live outdoors and feed on plant pests. Once inside they crawl about on windows, walls, attics, etc. In many areas of the U. The beetle is native to Asia e. The first field populations in the United States were found in Louisiana in
Asian lady beetles use biological weapons against their European relatives
Invasive species from Eastern Asia uses microsporidia in order to out-compete native lady beetles. Once introduced for biological pest control, Asian lady beetle Harmonia axyridis populations have been increasing uncontrollably in the US and Europe since the turn of the millennium. The species has been proliferating rapidly in Germany; conservationists fear that the Asian lady beetle will out-compete native beetle species. Scientists from the University of Giessen and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, have now found the reason why this animal is so successful.
Skip to content Skip to navigation. A native of eastern Asia, the multicolored Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridi s, was introduced into the United States by the U. Department of Agriculture as a biological control agent. This tree dwelling beetle, of the family Coccinellidae, is an important predator of aphids and scale insects.