If you have Asian Lady Beetles around the house, it is natural for your dog or cat to chase them. But are these bugs safe for pets? This article will give you all the info you need.
Dogs and cats are curious creatures; they are easily attracted to bright, colorful organisms, and they love to interact with them (including eating them sometimes!)
If the organism is as tiny and colorful as an Asian lady beetle, there is a high chance that your pet will try to swallow them.
These beetles may seem harmless, but they can be dangerous for pets like dogs and cats because of the substance they emit when they are frightened.
This article will discuss why these insects are harmful to your little pets and how you can control them from coming near your fur balls.
Do Asian Lady Beetles Harm Dogs (or Cats)?
Encounters between Asian lady beetles and dogs are rare, but when they happen, the insect is capable of hurting your dog.
It all starts when your dog tries to swallow these beetles. They release a foul-smelling yellow liquid that is corrosive and causes chemical burns in your pet’s mouth.
If your dog or cat swallows the beetle quickly, the corrosive effects on the mouth are minimal. If it happens in front of you, make them drink water.
This will reduce the chances of the beetle getting stuck in the food pipe and causing damage there.
However, if there are severe burns, they must be adequately treated. Failing to do so can result in severe infections.
Also, since these beetles are able to inflict pain through their bites, your pet can experience significant discomfort if one happens to bite them.
If you have a dog or a cat in your house, and there are ladybugs in the garden, you must make constant efforts to keep these insects away from them.
Asian Lady Beetle Dog Symptoms
As stated above, Asian beetles can cause burns in your pet’s gastrointestinal tract; here are a few symptoms that you will notice:
- Excessive drooling
- Mood changes,
- Sudden vomiting
- Sudden changes in behavior
- Inability to poop
- Loss in appetite
- Drowsiness
If you notice any of these symptoms, immediately check your pet’s mouth for chemical burns, and take them to the nearest vet.
Remember that these chemical burns can be nasty and can cause serious discomfort and pain to dogs or cats.
Another thing to note is that exposure to dead beetles can trigger allergic reactions in human bodies as well.
In the next section, we will discuss how to keep these pests away from your home.
Precautions You Can Take
It’s hard to control your dog or cat because if they see a colorful bug, they will go after it, no matter how much you train them.
Therefore, the best way to prevent such encounters is to keep the insects away from your home. Here are a few tips and tricks that can help you with that:
Run a thorough check for cracks and holes
Since these beetles enter our homes during winter to escape the cold, they use cracks and tiny holes as entry points.
Asian Lady Beetles can enter homes through gaps as small as one-eighth of an inch wide.
Therefore spend some spend to check for such cracks and holes. If you find some, immediately seal them using silicon or acrylic material.
Replace broken window frames and doors
Broken windows and door gaps are good entry points for these beetles. Go around your home, both inside and outside.
Inspect the door frames, window frames, spaces between walls, wall voids, places in the attic or basement that might have an entry point, and more.
Fill it up with caulk or other strong adhesive material to keep these pests out
Use insecticides
If you are considering spraying insecticides to keep the Asian lady beetles away, make sure that your pets stay away from these insecticides as well.
They can be harmful to your pets; therefore, use them carefully. Insecticides like cypermethrin, permethrin, and bifenthrin, can be helpful in keeping the beetles at bay.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Asian Lady Beetles Harmful to Dogs?
Yes, Asian lady beetles can be harmful to dogs. When your dog swallows these beetles, they secrete a yellow foul-smelling liquid in a defensive display.
This chemical can cause intense burns in your dog’s mouth and the gastrointestinal tracts, triggering problems like vomiting, drowsiness, and more.
Can Asian beetles attach to a dog’s mouth?
Yes, Asian beetles can attach themselves to a dog’s mouth. It happens accidentally, when your dog tries to eat them. The yellow liquid they secrete is adhesive, so the beetles get stuck inside your dog’s mouth.
As a pet owner, you must make sure that these insects stay away from your home. Seal off all the cracks and holes that the beetles can use as entry points with silicon and acrylic materials.
Can ladybugs live in a dog’s mouth?
It is possible for Asian ladybugs to live in a dog’s mouth. This mainly happens during the winter season when the temperature drop and these insects find a warm place to live in.
They might crawl into your pet’s mouth when you are playing around the garden. However, these bugs are not parasites; they are just pests.
Are the Orange ladybugs poisonous?
Orange ladybugs are not poisonous to humans, but they cause trigger allergic reactions to the body and are also harmful to pets.
These beetles have the most toxins in their bodies, and they release a yellow liquid when threatened.
This liquid can cause chemical burns in your pet’s mouth and can cause problems like vomiting, loss of appetite, drowsiness, and more.
Wrap Up
The Asian lady beetles might seem attractive at first glance, but don’t let the bright colors and the tiny size fool you.
These beetles are highly dangerous for your little fur babies. They can cause severe health issues such as vomiting, drooling, nausea, drowsiness, and more to the pet if it consumes them by mistake.
Use the information given in this article to prepare yourself to deal with these pests and to prevent them from being around your pet.
Thank you for reading the article!
Reader Emails
Asian lady beetles can be quite dangerous if you have pets like dogs around. It is important to be able to identify them.
Readers have asked us often about the Asian lady beetle since it looks confusingly similar to a lady bug.
Here are some examples of why it is so difficult to compare the two.
Letter 1 – Two-Toned Multicolored Asian Ladybird Beetle
Two-Toned Multicolored Asian Ladybird
(05/08/2007) identify
Hi there, we just returned form a family vacation to Orlando, FL. While at Disney World, this little lady (or fellow) landed on my daughter. The odd thing is I have not seen a ladybird beetle with this very odd coloration.while I am adept at photoshop, I assure you this is how this critter looked!!!! 1/3 orange, 1/3 golden and 1/3 cream. There were no photos on your site that I could find showing this coloration, so thought I’d see what you had to say. Perhaps it’s completely common, but I’ve not seen one like it before. Thanks!
Tara
Photographer/Mixed Media Artist
Hi Tara,
Thank you for confessing to your knowledge of Photoshop. This bicoloration is unusual. This is a Multicolored Asian Ladybird, Harmonia axyridis. It is the species responsible for huge aggregations entering peoples’ homes in the eastern U.S. We have located a wonderful table of color variations on a British website that also calls it the Harlequin Ladybird or Halloween Ladybird. BugGuide also has many photos of this species, but none like yours. BugGuide indicates that “The only consistent marking is a strip of color along the edge of the pronotum (between the head and the wings) but the color of that strip can vary from white to red. In the east, the pronotum is usually white with four black spots, which range from small spots to large patches that may blend together to look like a black M (or W). ”
Update: November 23, 2010
We just received this comment that nicely explains the bicolor variation: “The right elytron (forewing) probably died early, keeping its “young” orange color, while the left continued to store red pigment (caroten).“
Letter 2 – Two-Toned Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle
Subject: Two-Toned Asian Ladybird Beetle
Geographic location of the bug: Winter Park, Fl, 32792
Date: 02/16/2019
Time: 10:54 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Discovered a Two-Toned Asian ladybird beetle by my porch light the other night. Believe that’s the proper ID, one mentioned on a similar photo that its possible that its its wing-case died, leaving one to be lack of red pigmentation?
Curiously, the other post was taken years ago at Disney World, so could this be possible that its genetic mutation instead?
How you want your letter signed: Alexis Comstock
Dear Alexis,
Sorry for the delay. We were interrupted while creating a posting for your submission and it was saved as a draft and forgotten. The Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle is quite variable. The suspicion about the dead elytra or wing cover is interesting, but we don’t know if it is accurate.
The right elytron (forewing) probably died early, keeping its “young” orange color, while the left continued to store red pigment (caroten).
This is a much appreciated comment.
Hello, I found one recently, in Winter Park area of Orlando, FL. Still have the live ladybird beetle. Will see if its the same species.