Louis Tedders, a retired entomologist with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, knows all about ladybugs, including how to get them
back outdoors where they belong.
“Most people just want to stomp them when they see so many of
them come inside,” said Tedders, who worked with ladybugs, or
Asian
lady beetles, for 35 years at the USDA Southeastern Fruit and
Tree Nut Research Laboratory in Byron, Ga.
But he and many others urge people not to kill the beneficial
insects but to trap them and release them outdoors.
Lady Beetle Trap
Though retired, Tedders hasn’t stopped working with the insects.
His latest project is a lady
beetle trap. His company, H&T
Alternative Controls in Perry, Ga., began selling the traps two
years ago.
“The trap is two black light lamps mounted over a bucket with a
metal backboard attached,” Tedders said. “The lady beetles are
attracted to the black light. They fly to it, land on the metal
backboard and fall into the bucket.”
The backboard is coated with talcum powder, which makes the bugs
slide down into the bucket.
Use Trap Indoors
The trap is designed for use indoors and wouldn’t be effective
outdoors.
“When the temperature drops below 70, they stop flying,” he said.
“And I don’t know of many nights lately that we’ve had
temperatures above 70 degrees.”
Tedders’ trap is designed to be used indoors, where the
temperature is at least 70. “You just set it in the middle of the
room where the lady beetles are, turn on the lamps and go to
sleep,” he said. “In the morning, you can just take them
outside.”
The trap makes it easier to remove large numbers of ladybugs from
homes or buildings without killing them.
“If people only knew how beneficial lady beetles are, they
wouldn’t even think about killing them,” he said. “There’s just
no telling how much money they’ve saved the Georgia pecan
industry.”
