From 40s To 70s? Today Is The Warmest Day Of The Month!

We hit a high yesterday of 68.7°F degrees. For once we had a high this month that was average! This is not something we are use to lol. Believe it or not after having highs in the low 50s and upper 40s this past month, Having highs hit near 70° felt kinda warm. It got hot in the house last night. I'M sure many of you got a chance to got out and enjoy the nice mild temperatures right? That is if you could get past all the Yellow Ladybugs flying through the air. I have not seen this many in the Lafayette area in a few years. They have been all over lately. I really noticed them yesterday while I was out. So what's the deal with them?This is the time of year when we see this many ladybugs around the area. Why? In the fall / Autumn, these ladybugs can be spotted in large packs getting ready for the following winter! Lady beetles will winter-over in mulch, under boards and bark, and in yard waste. They will use cracks in stone walls and openings between rocks in the wild.Lady beetles will emerge in the spring a week or two after the aphids emerge. You can find lady beetles where you find aphids; on the undersides of leaves, on stems near leaf joints, and particularly on new growth of a plant. It is more difficult to spot the eggs and the larvae of the lady beetle.

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Really these yellow ladybugs are not that bad however they can drive you crazy that's for sure. The thing we don't like about this time of year are the

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SWARMING LADY BEETLES... Since 1991 the incidence of lady beetles swarming on houses and buildings in yardeners’ yards has been increasing. In one respect this is good because the use of broad spectrum pesticides was reduced, permitting more of these insects to live. The bad feature happens when your house has been selected.

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Ladybugs are attracted to the light colored houses. Especially, homes that have a clear southwestern sun exposure. Older homes tend to experience more problem with aggregations due to lack of adequate insulation. The ladybugs come in through small cracks around windows, door ways and under clap boards. They want to hibernate in a warm, comfortable spot over the cold months of winter. Ladybugs gather in groups when they hibernate, so if you see one, you can be sure more will follow. The best way to keep them out is to repair damaged clap boards, window and door trim and to caulk small cracks.Our blogger Brow, sent me this picture yesterday of a yellow ladybug without any spots! Kind of an odd ball if you will. Maybe odd ball is not the right word choice. Really there are many ladybugs without any spots. Some have them while others don't. A question that many people ask is, "Q. Do the spots tell you how old they are?" A. No. Different ladybugs have different numbers of spots. Some have no spots while some have as many as twenty four. Ladybugs generally complete their life cycle within one year. The spots are with them all their life. They don't get more spots as they get older, nor do they lose spots.

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An entomologist can use the spots as a guide in determining what kind of ladybug it is, but it is not the only piece of information gathered. For an average person the spots can greatly help, but the shape and coloration are going to be just as important. Some different types of ladybugs may have the same number of spots. Thanks Brow for this picture. I myself have only seen very few without spots.....Now the thing we have to talk about in our wild Indiana weather is "Rain". Yes, you can see in this prog chart I have put together for you all above. We are tracking that stationary front that will finally make a move on us by later on tomorrow afternoon / Friday morning. We will see heavy rainfall over take much of the state with expected rainfall amounts currently between a half inch and three quarters of an inch possible. At this time I would not rule out a few locally higher amounts possible in areas. All this rainfall is expected to start tomorrow. We will start out with cloudy skies as rain is expected to move in later on that late afternoon / evening, And then into Friday. And you can bet I will have more updates about the rainfall totals as we get closer.

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You can also expect highs today around 70°F degrees. As for the rest of this week we will see highs in the 60s once again. Currently looking to stay around average for the next few days into this weekend. I expect to cool off to the 50s by this weekend however to start the next week we may see low 60s move back into our area.

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I will check back again soon bloggers. Thanks for all your support!

Happy Wednesday.....