Have you noticed it’s that time of year when unwanted guests are trying to move in with us for the winter?
If you live around an area with lots of trees, you’re apt to be plagued by the orange Asian lady beetles. Their official biological name is Coccinella transversalis. They were imported to help farmers with aphids on crops, but as so often happens, they have now become a pest. Plus, they stink and they bite! They’re just not desirable like the little red spotted ladybugs.
I was showing a home one time that had a mass of the Asian beetles in the basement near an incoming pipe.The cluster was about 14″ wide and a couple inches thick. There must have thousands of the beetles in the mass.
I found this other odd looking bug near my back door. I definitely didn’t want it to make its way into my home. Talk about UG-G-L-Y!
It’s a squash bug or also called a leaf-footed bug (coreidae). To me, it looks like a bug in a tuxedo with FlashDance-style leggings. Or else it’s dressed up like Lady GaGa. 
I think I need to spend the next sunny day going around my house to caulk all potential holes.
Copyright © 2009. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.
Staying positive when your nose hairs are frozen
So what’s to be positive about the winter we’ve been having?
BUGS!!!!!
With those extreme cold temps we just had, there SHOULD be fewer bugs this summer because they, too, will be frozen. Sometimes our winters aren’t all that bad and the insects that overwinter in the upper few inches of the soil, will survive quite nicely. Then when warm weather comes along – finally – we’re deluged with fighting masses of insects.
I’m just hoping that the layer of snow on the ground isn’t offering a form of insulation for the creepy crawlies.
Any entomologists out there to give an opinion on whether it’s been cold enough – long enough – to kill the critters?
Copyright © 2009. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.
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Posted in Central Ohio, Commentary, Homes
Tagged frozen soil, insects