Invasion of the Beetle!!!

[JanAndBill]

Got back from our last trip over the weekend, backed the coach into the shelter and put out the slides. Our intent was to take our time cleaning and restocking for the next trip. Monday it rained most of the morning and was cool. By noon the rain cleared and the sun came out, and by late afternoon I started seeing a few Asian Beetles http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/lbeetle/ . These things come out of the woods after a cold snap followed by a warm spell trying to find shelter and are for some reason attracted to anything white or light in color. They bite and leave a yellow stinky trail on any light surface they crawl on. I was hopeful that a few would be all I saw, but by lunch today, they were everywhere. Like a horrible cloud of yellow they descended on the trailer and house. We couldn't open the doors without them flying in everywhere. All we could do was wait until the sun went down and hope they weren't finding their way into out new 5th wheel. After dark I finally able to go out and put the slides in. I raked a handful of them out from under the bedroom slide before I put it in. I'm hopefull that it's tight enough that they couldn't find any cracks to get in, because they are pain to get rid of once they get in.

 

[greg7140]

Interesting story! Good luck! I wonder if Lady Bugs act the same way...the past few days in Indiana it has be unseasonably cold already...yesterday it was very nice again, at lunch I went out to eat in our sunroom and the windows were covered with lady bugs...there had to be 100's, if not 1000's on the windows of the sunroom.

i spent most of my adult life in the South East...and one thing about Indiana...I no longer deal with Fire Ants, Love Bugs, Asian Beetles, BlackWidows and other pesky things! Nor alligators!

 

[MCTalley]

Welcome to our world, Jan and Bill. We were parked in our home campground this time last year where the sun would shine on the off-door side of our rig all afternoon, making a nice warm, light-colored billboard that attracted those buggers by the thousands. They found their way in through all the various slide seals (slides were open). If I had to estimate, I'd say we ended up with several hundred of them making their winter home in our trailer.

We took to using the central vac to clean them up as we found them to the point that we just left the hose laying in the living room as we knew it would be used several times a day. I think we found our last one in probably March of this year. Every time the coach would warm up (since we're full-time, that was pretty much every day), a few would crawl out and be flying/walking around the coach.

I'm hoping they've already swarmed at our home campground, but we've already picked out a nice, shady spot in the event they're still looking for warm, light-colored trailers to call home when we get back tomorrow.

I'd leave the slides pulled in for about a week or until you don't see them swarming in the afternoon any more.

 

[JanAndBill]

Glad I didn't pull in the main slides last night. Went out this morning while it was still cool. Started to pull them in and the saw that the inner seal on the slide that is on the sunny side was covered with thousands of them. Put the slide back out before any dropped off inside. Guess I will have to wait until it gets cooler then go out and pull it in and vacuum them up before they drop in the coach.

 

[artsbighorn]

We have the Asian beetle,s in South Dakota. They come out of the soybean field's.

 

[GlenStMary]

Those things sounds as bad as our "love bugs" and "yellow flies". I guess no matter where you live there is some kind of an insect to bother you.

 

[iaflatlander]

Not a solution, but we have found that a cake pan with about 2 inches of water can be a bug collector. We place it along the "white wall" that is the magnet for the things. We don't get them all, but it can help.

 

[Nabo]

Well Bill and Jan - guess what, they have invaded Point Mallard. Dave, Julie and I were standing outside talking this afternoon and they were flying into our hair, clothes and up our britches. No fun.

 

[JanAndBill]

Well Bill and Jan - guess what, they have invaded Point Mallard. Dave, Julie and I were standing outside talking this afternoon and they were flying into our hair, clothes and up our britches. No fun.

They weren't swarming as bad today, here, but they were still to bad to do anything outside. Hope the rain tomorrow will settle them down long enough for me to put the slides in and clean up the mess.

 

[VKTalley]

Jan and Bill, good luck with the cleaning and clearing of those beetles. They haven't started swarming here in the Wetumpka area (yet). We are hoping that the site we chose to be on will be shady enough to avoid another infestation of the beetles.

 

[JanAndBill]

Managed to pull the slides in enough to get to the inner seal, which was covered with beetles, took the shop vac and sucked up most of them before they warmed up enough to fly. Spent the next two hours chasing the ones that had gotten in. They were in the A/C vents, on the walls. There must be something about the smoke alarm that attracts them, because after catching several that crawled out from under it, I popped the cover off. It was packed with them. we'll probably be chasing them for the next few trips, everytime the coach warms up.

 

[MCTalley]

Those critters will find every nook and cranny inside. For example, we replaced our built-in microwave with a convection unit. When I dropped the microwave away from the wall, we found a bunch all cozy up in the corners.

Keep that vacuum handy.

 

[JanAndBill]

We've run the vac over and over. Put the slides in and out numerous times and cleaning them up. We've had freezing temps, and still they keep coming. I believe this is the worst year we've had for them. This is our first trip out since the invasion, and once the interior heated up they started coming out. Looks like we may be finally getting the best of them inside as I haven't seen any in the last hour now. After we set up this afternoon, I noticed that the exterior seal on the bedroom slide is a rubber tube. Out of curiosity I tapped one of the seals, and out pours a stream of the buggers. After we get back I'll have to take the air hose and blow them out.

 

[wdk450]

I guess some of the bugs REALLY like the white exteriors. Maybe this is a reason RV manufacturers have moved to darker exterior color schemes. I currently have one section of my trailer covered with dead gnats (I don't remember staying anywhere with a noticeable gnat problem), and Wilderness lakes Thousand Trails here is next to a dairy (very little smell). We have a moderate housefly problem, and in the warm afternoons the flies love the white exterior of the Bighorn. I am going to use the current light rain conditions to help me wash it down. They sell flytrap bags at the park store.

 

[VKTalley]

Well, the Traveling Talleys avoided the worst of the beetles that did swarm while we were still in Wetumpka. Our choice of a very shady spot helped. We only have a few find us. Two rigs a couple of campsites up from us (in the sun) were overrun with them. I spoke to both owners and they said they were vacuuming them up as fast as they could find them. Hope you are about done finding them, Jan and Bill.