UW-Madison sophomore Linnea Baumgart is not alone in saying, \I'm enjoying the weather ... but not those bugs!""
""Those bugs"" are Asian Lady beetles, classified under a separate family than what entomologists consider bugs.
By day, Baumgart said, the beetles have bit her numerous times as she waited in line for tickets to this weekend's football game. By night, she had counted more than 50 ""smelly"" insects in her Tripp Hall room. She said her strategy for killing the beetles was to ""fry"" them in a lamp in her darkened room.
Megan Hyslop, a UW-Madison junior and entomology major, found them in her bathroom. She said the adults congregate to prepare for hibernation. Natural triggers, like a change in the length of daylight or a change in weather, cause them to come out in droves all at once, explained Hyslop.
""This isn't like abnormal. This is what they do,"" she said.
According to Entomology Faculty Associate Phil Pellitteri, the beetles reached Wisconsin in 1993 after establishing in Louisiana in 1989. Hyslop said the species was probably introduced as an effective predator. The beetles' menu includes aphids, spider mites and insect eggs, among other morsels.
The reasons behind their staggering numbers are somewhat complex, according to Pellitteri.
""We don't understand the dynamics of it, but it's basically been bad every year since '95,"" he said.
Joining the beetles in numbers are the boxelder bugs, a native species, classified as ""true"" bugs. The profusion of boxelders correlates directly to the lack of moisture, Pellitteri said, because a fungus that kills boxelders only thrives in wetter weather. Pellitteri said boxelders have a longer appearance than Asian Lady beetles, occasionally arriving as early as September.
University Housing officials said they are used to the yearly arrivals.
""We're not taking any particular measures because of the bugs right now,"" said Assistant Director Mike Kinderman.
Kinderman and Pellitteri both cited leaks in windows and air conditioners as possible entry points and said these should be sealed to prevent future infestations.
Until then, warns Pellitteri, instead of smashing beetles, whose green protein-based blood stains rugs, sweep or vacuum them. The arrival of rain, projected for this weekend, should end the problem, Pellitterri said.
