The Beetle Invasion Is Over!

Well, the beetle invasion is over. No, not THAT Beatle invasion. I'm talking about those little red bugs with the black spots. I call them ladybugs, but they are more properly known as Asian Lady Beetles.

The ladybugs that were here last week have finally gone. They come here every fall for a few days in a big swarm and land on the outside of our house, on the doors, and around the windows. They also land all over any humans that happen to be walking about in the area where they are swarming.

Although they aren't poisonous and don't inject venom into your skin, they do "bite" sometimes when they land on you. It feels like a tiny little pinch. It's not much, but it is just enough for you to go, "Hey!" and to react by trying to brush the creatures off of you. Supposedly, when they give you those little nibbles, they are "taste testing" you to see if you would be good to eat.

Although I didn't get any pictures or videos of the swarm when they were here. I did get a picture of the aftermath from one of our upstairs windows. I wrote a poem to go with the photo below.

Ladybug Lemmings

Red beetles with black spots come every fall
to swarm on the doors and windows.
Red clouds of them billow about,
stirred up whenever the wind blows.

Step outside---for even a moment,
and they're on your hand, your arm, your elbow.
You'll be brushing and swatting and shaking,
doing all you can--- just to make them go!

Like lemmings heading for the ocean,
they crowd toward the crack under the screen.
One by one they squeeze past the window frame,
only to be trapped in a suicide scene.

Later, I find them inside the window.
Their dried, crispy, crunchy carcasses all in a heap.
Their quest to find a spot of warmth for a moment
has instead led them to the fate of eternal sleep.

* * * * *

This is a video of a ladybug invasion as reported by CNN. Luckily, the swarm that came here to my house was nowhere near the size of the one in this video.