Lady Bug Look-Alikes Find Their Way On Campus

Belmont Vision Multimedia, Zach Watkins

Fallen leaves aren’t the only seasonal change that students are noticing at Belmont–an unusually high number of ladybug look-alikes are making themselves at home around campus. 

“We see it a lot in our apartment, and even in Caldwell I’ve seen them walk around,” said senior Kadaisha Summers. 

Though these orangey-red colored insects don’t pose a serious threat to Belmont students, their gradual influx raises questions that entomologists–people who study insects–answered. 

“They’re trying to get inside our houses to hibernate over winter,” said Steve Murphree, an entomologist and professor of biology at Belmont. 

The ladybug-looking insects students see inside their dorms and apartments each fall are called multicolored Asian lady beetles, a species of ladybugs from Southeast Asia that like to hunker down indoors as seasonal temperatures begin to drop in November. 

A paper by Karen M. Vail, associate professor of entomology and plant pathology at the University of Tennessee, says that Asian lady beetles were first released in California as early as 1916 for aphid control before being introduced to southeastern states in the late 1970s to early 1980s. 

Now, they’ve made their way to Belmont’s campus. 

“In my class in the Leu, I noticed two ladybugs just crawling around on my peers. There was one girl sitting in front of me and there was just a ladybug crawling in her hair the whole class,” said senior Lily Rosen. 

Some students are happy to see the small insects wandering around campus. 

“Ladybugs are seen as good luck, so every time I see them, I think it’s good luck,” said Summers.  

However, not every student wants to live with them all winter. Rather than exterminating, Murphree suggests other control methods that keep the beneficial insect alive. 

“I wouldn’t suggest that they kill them, they can vacuum them up… and release them outside,” he said. 

It is each student’s choice whether or not to let the multicolored Asian lady beetles stick around for the winter, but it is important to consider the pest-control benefits they bring during other seasons. 

For pest concerns, submit a maintenance request by emailing fms@belmont.edu or call the Belmont Facilities Management Service number (615) 460-6670. 

This article was written by Georgina America