– From 2001 Maine Forest Service report
It’s winter and these little guys are looking for a home. Yours suits them just fine.
Bugged?
This time of year insects sneak in on firewood, slip unnoticed through screen holes and boldly fly right through the front door.
Most aren’t looking for food or to lay eggs. They’re just waiting out winter, like you.
But for some people it can be a bit unnerving when the outside comes in.
“People get freaked out over it,” said Clay Kirby, an insect diagnostician for the pest management office at the Cooperative Extension at the University of Maine. “These things deserve some credit for being tenacious and trying to survive.”
Ants, cluster flies, bees, multi-colored Asian lady beetles and Western conifer seed bugs are the most common uninvited winter house guests.
The seed bug is the most puzzling – it’s only been in Maine 10 years. Kirby has gotten 30 calls since October, from people in Lewiston, Lisbon, Bangor and Topsham wondering about the big guy.
“Usually when I ask people if there’s a pine tree or pine over-story near their house they say yes,” Kirby said. The bugs eat pine cone seeds and lay eggs on pine needles. Indoors they’re generally harmless, although distinctive.
“From what I hear, when people smack them there’s quite an odor,” he said.
As the fall nights start to get cool, opportuning insects look for any opening into your home, said Don Ouellette, a forest entomologist with the Maine Forest Service. They’re drawn to cracks, attics and wall spaces.
Cold-blooded creatures, they don’t really move when the temperature drops below freezing, Ouellette said. “They can’t flex their muscles, so to speak.” When the sun beats down and warms up the wall or attic, they’ll seem to come back to life.
Cluster flies in your house are an indication of a healthy earthworm population in your yard, according to Ouellette. And multi-colored Asian lady beetles mean there’s good aphid eating.
Instead of tossing the beetles outside or flushing them, Kirby said he suggests people corral them into a shoe box with tissue paper and keep them in a cool place until spring.
Bug numbers seem to vary by year and location.
In 2001 the lady beetle wasn’t spotted much in southern Maine but was everywhere up north.
From a forest service report: “All you had to do this past fall was mention you were an entomologist in any store or camp from Greenville to Medway and north to Fort Kent and you would unloose a very colorful diatribe on those *%$!@* lady beetles.”
Kirby said without more study he’s hesitant to say how much weather effects the next season’s bug crop.
The best way to keep them out? Tightening screens and siding, checking vents and caulking window seams.
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