Although swarming Harlequin ladybirds are currently entering homes across the UK to hibernate, the sexually transmitted disease they carry is an insect-specific parasitic fungus, Laboulbenia, that spreads only between beetles and poses no threat to humans or household pets.
Reassuringly, Max Barclay, Senior Curator of Beetles at the Natural History Museum, confirmed that the sexually transmitted fungus carried by swarming Harlequin ladybirds cannot be passed on to humans.
Max Barclay, Senior Curator of Beetles at the Natural History Museum, explained that Harlequin ladybirds are naturally drawn to clustering inside modern homes because they ancestrally hibernated in large groups within sheltered places like caves and hollow trees.
Max Barclay added that without natural shelters, ladybirds will try to enter your home, most easily through the small gaps along the edges of loose-fitting windows.
He noted that the fungus forms a visible yellow crust or little scales on the outside of the ladybird’s wing cases and exoskeleton, meaning you can easily tell with the naked eye whether the insect is infected.
He emphasised that there is no reason to panic because these ladybirds cannot give you diseases, they cannot hurt you, and they are not going to completely exterminate our native fauna.
Barclay concluded that these ladybirds are ultimately going to find a natural ecological balance, even if that means they continue to coexist alongside our native species in reasonably large numbers.
To prevent the insects from gaining access to your home, the Natural History Museum advises ensuring that your doors and windows are properly sealed and insulated.
Sharing a common frustration on Reddit, u/Hollyisthedog posted in r/BritishProblems about having to shut every window, vent, and door to avoid being bombarded by ladybirds, noting that the “damn things are still getting in though.”
Highlighting how widespread the issue has become, another user commented that they are in South Staffordshire and literally every time they go into the kitchen at the moment, there is a new ladybird.
Adding to the evidence of their northward spread, a third user remarked that there were swarms of them over the weekend in West Yorkshire.
Further confirming their massive northward expansion, another user added that when they got home from work in Greater Manchester, their house was completely covered in them all over the walls, windows, and doors, noting they had never seen anything like it before.
Sharing their frustrations online, social media users across the UK reported being heavily bombarded by the beetles, with residents in South Staffordshire constantly finding them in their kitchens, individuals in West Yorkshire witnessing large swarms over the weekend, and a homeowner in Greater Manchester returning from work to find their walls, windows, and doors completely covered in an unprecedented influx of the insects.
