It's harvest time in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa. And that means the menacing Asian Lady Beetles are swarming from the fields into people's houses.

So how did they get here in the first place? According to Iowa State University, “the lady beetles and larvae feed voraciously on aphids and scale insects. For this reason, the beetles were introduced into the U.S. from eastern Asia. They have been rapidly spreading throughout the eastern part of the country, up the Atlantic coast and as far west as Missouri and Iowa.”

My folks live in northeastern Iowa and the Asian Beetles are so thick there that it makes it very difficult to just sit outside and enjoy the nice fall weather.

Word is that these little black-spotted orange bugs won’t damage your home. And they don't care about your food. Plus they aren't poisonous and they don't carry disease that is harmful to humans.

So how do you get rid of them? Farm and Dairy gives this advice: “The best way to keep Asian Lady Beetles out of your house is by preventing them from finding a way inside. Once they’ve nestled into a nice cozy hibernation spot, it’s hard to force them out. There’s really only one option once you’re supporting a colony of lady beetles — vacuuming.”

And once you vacuum the little buggers up make sure and dispose of the contents far from your living space. Oh...in case you were wondering, there doesn't appear to be any natural predator that will gobble up the little pests. So don't worry about even trying to buy an aardvark.

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