ST. PAUL (AP) - The pesky ladybug-like beetles that seem arrive in droves this time of year have settled into homes and other places across Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The non-native Asian lady beetles are looking for a warm place to reside as colder temperature approach. The beetles are orange with black spots and a little bigger than the familiar ladybug. They're also called Halloween lady beetles because they arrive en mass in October.

P.J. Liesch directs the Insect Diagnostic Lab at the University of Wisconsin. Liesch says the beetles were first spotted in the Upper Midwest in large numbers in the mid-1990s. The insects can bite and will secrete a foul-smelling odor if they're disturbed.

The bugs were actually imported to the U.S. in the early 1900s in order to control of pecan aphids in California.

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