Does Vinegar Kill Ladybugs? Plus An Effective Alternative

Ladybugs are cute outdoors, but they can be a real pain indoors. Ladybugs have the ability to swarm and flock in large numbers inside your home. One thing that always appears on lists of effective insect killers is vinegar. Many people claim you can simply use vinegar to kill ladybugs. It sounds extremely simple and affordable. But is it too good to be true? Is standard vinegar enough to kill ladybugs? The good news is that vinegar can kill ladybugs on contact. In fact, it can also work to prevent future infestations.

Here is everything you need to know about using vinegar to kill ladybugs inside your house.

What Kind of Vinegar Is Best for Killing Ladybugs?

The best vinegar to use for killing ladybugs is white vinegar. You can easily find white vinegar in a variety of different places including at your local grocery store, general box store, or hardware store. White vinegar is very affordable and can be readily purchased by the gallon. If you have vinegar leftover after eliminating your ladybug infestation, you can use it for cleaning, cooking, and even in your laundry.

How Does Vinegar Kill Ladybugs?

Vinegar Kills On Contact

Vinegar has the ability to kill ladybugs on contact. If you spray areas where ladybugs are common, they will come in contact with the vinegar and die. You can also spray ladybugs directly if you have an area with a high concentration of the insects.

You can put vinegar into a spray bottle and use it to control ladybug infestations. Vinegar is a great way to kill insects because it is a cleaner that is harmless to humans. Vinegar does have a potent odor, but you can dilute it with water to retain the killing power while keeping the odor manageable.

Destroys Pheromone Trails

Another benefit of vinegar is that it not only kills on contact, but it also destroys ladybugs’ pheromone trails. Ladybugs communicate via pheromones that they release. One of the reasons infestations occur is that a ladybug will release positive pheromones in your house that sends out a signal to nearby ladybugs that there is something good nearby. The pheromones can communicate the location of food or water. Vinegar eliminates these pheromone trails meaning that even when the ladybugs are dead, their residual scents will no longer attract other nearby ladybugs. This will prevent future infestations from breaking out by wiping away any invisible signals that might be left behind.

What Else Kills Ladybugs?

Another great thing to use on ladybugs is diatomaceous earth. Diatomaceous earth is a natural material that is a very effective insect killer. It is also harmless to humans. Diatomaceous earth works by penetrating insects’ hard exoskeletons and drying them out from the inside. The downside to diatomaceous earth compared to vinegar is that it is a powder that can be annoying to place and clean up. Vinegar can be left on a surface, and it will quickly evaporate, meaning you do not need to do as much cleaning or wiping after the fact.

Conclusion

If you are struggling to contain a ladybug infestation inside your house, vinegar might be an easy and available solution to your woes. Many people have white vinegar on hand. All you need to do is spray some vinegar on the bugs and the surrounding area and wait for it to work to eliminate the problem. Vinegar is a very affordable and easy solution to tackling ladybug infestations indoors.

Featured Image Credit: evita-ochel, Pixabay