They're everywhere.
No matter where you look, it seems like the pesky orange-and-black spotted bugs have taken over. They're on the wall, on the ceiling and — if you don't watch out — they're on you, too.
Ladybugs — lots of them.
This week's sudden re-emergence of warm, almost summer-like weather in Southern New Hampshire has not only brought back thoughts of bright, sunny days, but also the multicolored Asian lady beetle.
With trick-or-treating only a week away, it's no surprise that these little insects — as orange as freshly harvested pumpkins — are also commonly called "Halloween ladybugs," according to Philip Auger, an educator with the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension in Rockingham County.
And for those who didn't know, the ladybug has been New Hampshire's state insect since 1977.
"They are just currently swarming," Auger said Wednesday, a day when temperatures rose well into the 60s, warm enough to persuade the tiny creatures to come out of hiding and do a little house hunting before the cold of winter hits.
"They have been out and are seeking a winter site," Auger said.
Like most insects, ladybugs like the warm weather and are more active when the temperature rises.
When the temperature drops, as it's expected to do today — falling to nearly 50 degrees, ladybugs suddenly disappear from sight.
That means they have most likely moved indoors, where the temperature is more to their liking.
Unfortunately for many people, the ladybugs' new home is often theirs — a place where they can gather in great numbers on the ceiling, in a corner of a room or practically anywhere.
"They are very harmless," Auger said, noting that ladybugs pose no threat to humans, plants or animal life, just other species of ladybugs.
People often consider ladybugs a nuisance because they congregate where homeowners don't want them.
"They are a pain in the neck because they get in your house," Auger said.
Some local homeowners have resorted to contacting pest control companies to keep the ladybugs in check.
"We have received calls," Brenna MacVarish, an employee with Garfield Pest Control in Derry, said Wednesday. "We have treated a couple of them."
She said the company uses chemicals such as Bifen and Tempo Dust — both considered environmentally safe pesticides — and sprays inside homes to take care of the problem.
Although Paul Stracklin of Bug Man Pest Control in Salem said he hasn't received any calls about ladybugs this fall, he has gotten dozens in the past.
"The warm weather will bring them out," he said, explaining that one fall about four or five years ago, they were everywhere. "They were all over the sides of homes by the thousands," he said.
Stracklin said he uses soap and water to remove them from houses and advises homeowners to just use a vacuum cleaner as a quick, inexpensive way to get rid of them.
Auger said although ladybugs are not harmful to humans, they are a menace to pests such as aphids, which destroy plants. It's for this reason that this particular species was imported to other countries from its native Asia in 1916, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The first populations turned up in this country in New Orleans in 1988.
In only a short time,the multicolored Asian lady beetle spread to many other parts of the United States, where they threaten many other species of ladybugs, Auger said.
"It's pretty well wiped out the native species," he said. "They are saying the multicolored Asian lady beetle is a big part of the problem."
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