What scents repel ladybugs?

In dealing with ladybugs, it is sometimes necessary to utilize repellency strategies to remove or limit the invasion of ladybugs from indoor areas. The benefit of citrus and menthol smell is that they create confusion with the insect's means of navigation, motivating it to exit the indoor structure. I have worked with homeowners toward the prevention of ladybugs in the home using cotton balls soaked in lemon oil. Depending on the placement of the oil-soaked cotton balls, I have seen a 90% reduction in ladybugs in the home in one season.

Citrus oils are effective for targeted indoor repellency. Their volatile compounds slowly evaporate, allowing them to create barriers over long periods. For instance, a resident of an apartment in New York City used sachets of lemon peels on the windowsills of their home, thereby reducing the number of lady beetles in their home during autumn from 50+ to <5 daily while maintaining the populations of the lady beetles in their balcony garden.

Don't inundate exterior habitats with fragrances. Highly concentrated menthol sprays, when used next to a garden, confuse the native ladybugs, which stifles their ability to find aphids to eat. Instead, seal the cracks in your house with copper mesh and use the 1mm screening material. These physical barriers permit beetles to continue thriving in outdoor environments and keep pests from coming inside.

For serious pest problems, combine the repellent scents with mechanical removal. When you do not want to deal with the mess or hassle of capturing ladybugs you can use handheld vacuums to gently collect the ladybugs and take them outside. This is a humane resolution to a ladybug infestation we had in a library in Vermont that got rid of the ladybugs much quicker than some of the even harsher chemical removals while preserving the library's ecosystem.

Read the full article: Ladybugs Pest Control: Benefits and Risks