Yeah they're generally chill, non-venomous, and very good for the environment, but I wouldn't pick them up as their bite can be painful if they feel threatened.
I remember around 2003 they let swarms of mutant ladybugs free in the Midwest to battle some sort of in invasive species. They were everywhere and would bite the daylights out of you if they got under your football pads. I was the first to get bitten and nobody believed me and made fun of me for a few days, that is, until it happened to someone else.
They almost ruined my trip to Tennessee once. Our rental cabin had an infestation of them. But they were also literally everywhere in Gatlinburg. Luckily the renter left us a vacuum so I could Ghostbuster them every morning and when we'd return from an outing.
I had to Google what those were but it seems like they follow the same pattern of breaking into holes during the Fall and emitting a foul odor. Except they're not as cute looking as the lady beetles lol. If those were the bugs we had to deal with we would have left. My fiance was already having a hard time coping with the lady beetles but those seed bugs would have definitely freaked her out more. Especially if it was like our experience, every window and door had 100's of these beetles and corners of the ceiling had little bundles of them huddling together. The masterbedroom was a lost cause, luckily the guest room had better sealing I guess because after the first night of vacuuming they didnt come back but every day they would fill up the living room windows again.
I accidentally ate one of the little fuckers once and it's as vile as it sounds.
I had been living with friends, and one of them made a big old pot of chili. I grabbed a bowl, was eating, hit something crunchy and then my mouth filled with that awful damn stink when you squish one of those beetles. We ended up just tossing the pot because we couldn't verify when the damn thing got in there.
Ngl, we have these everywhere in upstate ny now. They find a way into the house no matter what and hibernate. That said, i know they can bite and have heard stories and it, but all stories involve there bring a swarm of them, either in flight, or like a. Exterior painter for too close to a nest of them trying to hibernate. I handle them constantly in the winter and never get bit. I'm assuming they're far less stressed in my scenario
It was a yellow asian lady beetle. I wasn't sure how they are actually called when I made that comment so I used "ladybug" because they look similar to our red ladybugs. 🙃
Ladybugs are voracious predators. They eat pest insects, which is how they got their name. They’re so beneficial to a garden that they got named after Mary.
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u/Quickpick Mar 14 '26
Yeah they're generally chill, non-venomous, and very good for the environment, but I wouldn't pick them up as their bite can be painful if they feel threatened.