A TERRIBLE trio of creepy crawlies are shocking Scots as they invade homes a month early due to the warm spring – as ants, cannibal ladybirds and flies drive us bonkers.
Pest control firms are seeing a boom as ants roam kitchens, harlequin ladybirds squirt smelly liquid on window frames and cluster flies poo on walls.
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Ants, not normally seen until May or June, are invading houses early amid spring temperatures 3C higher than normal.
Diamond Pest Control said: “Ants in your house in spring are looking for food.
“During winter, they are dormant and it’s too cold for them to survive above ground. But now many will seek out new areas to live, and gardens can become overrun with ants ruining your lawn.”
Pest UK said: “Ants are becoming more active as warmer temperatures give them more energy.”
Hundreds of harlequin ladybirds, which eat other ladybird species and each other, are falling out of windows and lofts after winter.
Resident Caroline Smith, from Hertfordshire, said: “Ladybirds hibernating en masse are like an infestation. They’re waking up and appearing on window sills as the weather has warmed up.”
The bugs also squirt out a smelly liquid, which stains surfaces, if threatened.
Ecologist Helen Roy said: “If you have 200 harlequin ladybirds in your window frame, their taint is going to be stronger – but trying to hoover them up probably just makes it worse.”
Swarms of cluster flies are annoying householders and pooping on walls.
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Pest controller Louise Chapman said: “Cluster flies are emerging from lofts after hibernating there over winter. The large numbers of flies can leave excrement and dirt on your walls.
“And they will often return to the same property year after year.”
Pest UK said: “Cluster flies congregate in large numbers and are a nuisance, appearing on warm days early in the year.”
