It’s a sunny, late February day, blustery and cold (barely 20 degrees) and yet there are puddles from melting snow and ice in my driveway. Even though I’m a huge fan of the winter months I’m anxiously awaiting the start of spring. Its’ getting brighter earlier in the morning and staying lighter longer in the afternoon as well.

Asian Lady Beetle on a branch. Shutterstock.

This ever increasing daylength is warming up homes and commercial buildings very nicely and insects are becoming active. This longer ‘photo period’ is one of the environmental cues signaling insects to break diapause which is that period of dormancy that insects experience during the cold, dark days of winter.

Western Conifer Seed Bug enjoying the sun. Shutterstock.

Two species of insects you may be starting to see in your home or office building now are the Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axryidis) and the Western conifer seed bug (Leptoglossus occidentalis). I saw some of the seed bugs crawling across the floor of my gym yesterday during my workout. I confess it made me smile, because warmer weather is coming. Now if we can just survive the month of March which has been hellacious for huge snow storms in New England the past couple of years we’ll be just fine.