Ladybug behavior question

[Malkavian]

Today while out and about on campus I was taking a break in the shadow of our "belltower" which is acutally a tall (hundred foot or so maybe) obelisk sort of thing with a bellchime at the top which rings the hour. As i was lounging around I thought i noticed alot of insects flyting about but really didn't pay much attention to it as this time of year in NC yellowjackets are eveywhere looking for food and i figured thats what it was.

To make a long story short, i was walking around the base of the thing and realized that there were ladybugs ALL OVER it. I counted maybe 16 in just a few square feet of space, and you could see them higher up crawling around or just sitting. I'm wondering if they congregate to the thing for the color or to bask in the sun (it was 65 F outside at that time of afternoon but getting much colder now at night) or if they perhaps hibernate in the top of the thing or something. All it is is white concrete studded with hunks of rock to make it seem like marble from a distance, and doesnt seem to hold solar heat real well so i was at a loss as to why the ladybugs would flock to it

 

[kellygirl]

I noticed the same type thing when I was out on a walk. The walking trail went under a bridge and on one (only one) of the pillars, there were THOUSANDS of ladybugs. That was a few weeks ago.. and I also live in NC. Must be a ladybug plague or something.

-Kelly

 

[Wade]

Apparently, they do congregate when they overwinter. I have found masses of ladybugs hiding between stacked lumber in the dead of winter.

Wade

 

[Pheonixx]

you should have collected a few of them, i had a scuttle fly problem in my T. blondi tank a few months back and 7 ladybugs cured it for several weeks. those little buggers feasted and then i had to let them go cause there was no more "food" they worked well.