Battle Nature, part deux...

Our second fight has been with the Asian beetles that were imported to eat the aphids on soybeans. We have the perfect house for over-wintering them; a south-facing light colored house. On warm days in the fall, they cover the south side of our home. Literally, hundreds of thousands of them. They can find their way into the tiniest crack in your home and will stay hidden inside until a really warm winter day when they will congregate on the warmest windows. I would come home from work everyday and vacuum them up - we have white walls and a white down comforter, if they are smashed they leave an orange color you cannot remove. When they're frightened they let off an odor that is really obnoxious so my vacuum always smells awful. Our second year in this house (we're heading for year 7), there were Asian beetles in our Thanksgiving mashed potatoes. I've grown to hate them. During the house inspection here, my husband wondered why the attic was filled with empty bug bombs. Guess we know why now. Somewhere my husband heard of a spray product that you cover your house with. The beetles land on the house after it's sprayed and just die. He sprays about this time of year because the beetles start to swarm during harvest when they're disturbed from their feeding grounds. I have 'invented' a little device to help capture them in the house. I duck-taped a water bottle to an old broomstick. The top of the broomstick hits the center of the bottle and is taped from the center to the bottom, making it really stable. I put a half a cup of warm soapy water in the bottle. When I see a beetle on the ceiling, I cover it with the bottle opening and slide the bottle along the ceiling. The beetle will fall into the bottle and die. On the walls, I just slide the opening up the wall under the beetle. Same thing. The only place they were safe from me was in the corners. Got the solution to that, too. Another broomstick or wooden dowel with a wad of masking or duck tape on the top and just dab. The beetle should stick to the tape. Caution: please don't tip the bottle when it's above your head. The nasty smelling water will spill into your hair forcing you to run screaming into the bathroom to wash it. Just don't ask me how I know that. Beetles 0, Closes 1. Stay tuned for our third and last battle. I love living in the country....